L 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 

Form  L  I 


501 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


MOV 


Form  L-9-15»n-10,'25 


TWENTY-SEVENTH  ANNUAL  REPORT 


Illinois 
Farmers'  Institute 


A  Handbook  of  Agriculture 


Proceedings  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Annual  Meeting  Held  in 

Monmouth,  111.,  February  22,  23  and  24,  1922,  Together 

with  Reports  of  Institute  Work  for  the  Year 

Ending  June  30,  1922 


H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary,  Springfield,  Illinois 

(Forty  Thousand  Copies  Issued) 


[Printed  by  Authority  of  Hie  Stjite  of   Illinois.] 


r*  01  o,  i  *; 
i  6  b  i  o 


SCHNEPP  &  BARNES,  PRINTERS 
SPRINGFIELD,   ILL.    • 
1922 

70936 — 40M. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


To  His  Excellency,  Len  Small,  Governor  of  Illinois: 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  Twenty- 
seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  1(J22. 

Most  respectfully  yours. 

Hx.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 
Springfield,  Illinois,  July,  1922. 


GOVERNOR    OF    ILLINOIS. 


ILLINOIS  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE 
1922-1923. 


PRESIDENT,  FRANK  I.  MANN,  Gilman. 
VICE-PRESIDENT,  RALPH  ALLEN.  Delavan. 
SECRETARY,  H.   E.   YOUNG,  Springfield. 
AUDITOR-TREASURER,  CLAYTON  C.  PICKETT,  Chicago. 


BOARD  OF   DIRECTORS 

Ex  Offlcio 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — F.  G.  Blair,  Springfield. 
Dean  of  the  College  of  Agriculture — Eugene  Davenport,  Urbana. 
Director  State  Department  of  Agriculture — B.  M.  Davison,  Springfield. 
President  State  Horticultural  Society — F.  H.  Simpson,  Flora. 
President  State  Dairymen's  Association — J.  P.  Mason,  Elgin. 

Elected    by    Congressional    Districts. 

1st.  Dist. — Ira  B.  Reed,  Glenview. 
2nd  Dist. — August  Geweke,  DesPlaines. 
3rd  Dist. — Adam  Schilling,  Tinley  Park. 

4th  Dist. — H.  Clay  Calhoun,  915  Lumber  Exchange  Bldg..  Chicago. 
5th  Dist. — C.  V.  Gregory,  223  W.  Jackson  Boul.,  Chicago. 
6th  Dist. — L.  C.  Brown,  LaGrange. 

7th  Dist. — Chas.  Gray,  5514  University  Ave.,  Chicago. 
8th  Dist. — Arthur  C.  Page,    523   Plymouth  Court.   Chicago 
9th  Dist. — Clayton  C.   Pickett,   1046   1st  Nat.   Bk.   Bldg.,   Chicago. 
10th  Dist. — John  E.  Barrett.  Prairie  View, 
llth  Dist. — J.  P.  Mason,  Elgin. 
12th  Dist. — Geo.   F.   Tullock,   Rockford. 
13th  Dist. — W.  G.  Curtiss,   Stockton. 
14th  Dist. — G.  A.   Switzer,  Macomb. 
15th  Di.st. — Frank  S.  Haynes,   Geneseo. 
16th  Dist. — Ralph   Allen,   Delavan. 
17th  Dist. — S.    B.    Mason,   Bloomington. 
18th  Dist. — F.   I.    Mann,    Gilman. 
19th  Dist. — John  K.  Wheeler,  Cerro  Gordo. 
20th  Dist. — G.    G.    Hopping,    Havana. 
21st  Dist. — Leigh    F.    Maxcy,    Farmlngdale. 
22nd  Dist. — E.  W.  Burroughs,  Edwardsville. 
23rd  Dist. — N.   F.  Goodwin,  Palestine. 
24th  Dist.— D.  M.  Marlin,  Norris  City. 
25th  Dist. — Harry  Wilson,  Pinckneyville. 


DEPARTMENT    OP    HOUSEHOLD    SCIENCE 

President — Dr.  Eva  M.  Wilson,  Manhattan. 

First  Vice   President — Mrs.   S.  E.   Bradt,   DeKalb. 

Second  Vice  President — Mrs.  J.  L.  Van  Gundy,  Monmouth 

Secretary — Mrs.  H.  A.  McKeene,  Springfield. 


MONMOUTH,  WARREN  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS. 


WHICH   ENTERTAINED   THE   TWENTY-SEVENTH   ANNUAL   MEETING 

OF  THE  ILLINOIS  FARMERS'   INSTITUTE,   FEBRUARY 

22,  23  and  24,  1922. 

Monmouth  is  on  the  main  line  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.,  M.  &  St.  L.  and  R.  I. 
Southern  Railroads. 

Monmouth  is  the  county  seat  of  Warren  County,  noted  for  its  extensive 
agricultural  and  live  stock  interests. 

Monmouth  has  20  miles  of  paved  streets  and  hard  roads  leading  in  every 
direction. 

Monmouth  has  a  public  school  system  unsurpassed  by  any  city  of  its 
size  in  America. 

Monmouth  has  live  churches  of  every  denomination. 

Monmouth  College  was  founded  in  1856,  and  is  a  prominent  co-educa- 
tional institution. 

Monmouth  has  a  new,  modern  Armory,  erected  at  a  cost  of  $150,000. 

Monmouth  has  one  of  the  first  and  best  flying  fields  in  the  State,  under 
the  management  of  the  Curtis  Aircraft  Corporation,  which  will,  by  early 
summer,  maintain  regular  flying  schedules  to  Chicago  and  other  points. 

Monmouth's  magnificient  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  building  is  one  of  the  best  in  the 
State,  elaborately  equipped  with  spacious  lobby,  bowling  alleys,  swimming 
pool,  shower  baths  and  gymnasium,  all  of  which  are  open  to  delegates  and 
visitors  attending  the  State  Institute. 

Monmouth  has  two  large  stoneware  companies,  manufacturing  and  ship- 
ping all  kinds  of  earthen  ware  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Monmouth  Plow  Factory,  owned  by  5,000  farmers  living  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  manufactures  all  types  of  plows,  harrows,  cultivators  and  corn 
planters,  sold  entirely  by  mail. 

Monmouth  is  the  home  of  the  Pattee  Plow  Company,  organized  in  1872, 
manufacturing  a  complete  line  of  corn  cultivators,  and  employing  250  men. 

Monmouth  has  a  large  clay  manufacturing  plant;  a  boiler  pipe  factory, 
a  stump  puller  manufacturing  plant;  and  a  large  mitten  factory. 

Monmouth  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Military  Tract  Live  Stock  Ship- 
pers' Association. 

Monmouth  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Warren  County  Farm  Bureau  with 
an  active  membership  of  over  1,200  members. 

Monmouth  has  a  live  Chamber  of  Commerce,  with  commodious  quarters 
including  reading  rooms,  club  and  pool  rooms,  ladies'  rest  rooms,  restaurant, 
etc.  All  delegates  and  visitors  will  be  made  welcome.  A  Bureau  of  Infor- 
mation will  be  maintained  here  during  the  Institute. 

LOCAL  INSTITUTE  COMMITTEES. 

EXECUTIVE. 

O.  A.  Spicer,  Chairman;  B.  F.  Gardner,  M.  T.  Bruner,  Ralph  Wells,  W. 
D.  Rodgers. 

ENTERTAINMENT. 

Will  Beard,  Chairman;  Chas.  O.  McVey,  John  Donaldson,  W.  P.  Graham. 


10 

RECEPTION. 

I.  N.  Willis,  Chairman;  Ray  Gardner,  W.  T.  McBride,  Ben  W.  Lee,  R 
L.  Wray,  W.  C.  Whitman,  Robert  Rubart,  D.  C.  Hardin,  Newton  Cable,  Alvin 
Porter,  Chester  Smith,  Fred  Price,  Henry  Harshberger,  Charles  E.  Russell, 
C.  W.  Rose,  Frank  Winebright,  Ernest  Bacon. 

PUBLICITY. 
Ralph  Wells,  Chairman;  R.  D.  Kyle,  R.  S.  Russell,  L.  A.  Ryan. 

INFORMATION. 

J.  W.  Sprout,  Chairman;  Warren  Brownlee,  Algot  Bowman,  C.  M.  Bur- 
ford,  Frank  S.  Stewart,  E.  V.  Moburg. 

MUSIC. 
J.  C.  McCoy,  Chairman;  R.  M.  Work,  Frank  Phillips. 

LOCAL  HOUSEHOLD  SCIENCE  COMMITTEES. 

EXECUTIVE. 

Mrs.  Luther  Barr,  904  E.  2d  Ave.,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  A.  H.  Grunewald,  819 
W.  Boston  Ave,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  C.  O.  McVey,  229  S.  9th  St.,  Monmouth; 
Mrs.  Ralph  Kyle,  R.  No.  5,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Glenn  Firoved,  R.  No.  4,  Mon- 
mouth. 

ENTERTAINMENT. 

Mrs.  George  Martin,  Chairman,  129  S.  8th  St.  Monmouth;  Mrs.  R.  A. 
Zimmerman;  Mrs.  Chas.  Rodgers,  408  E.  Boston  Ave,  Monmouth. 


Mrs.  C.  M.  Patterson,  Chairman,  125  N.  9th  St.,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Ralph 
Wells,  1015  E.  1st  Ave.,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Elmer  E.  Okey,  R.  7,  Monmouth. 

PUBLICITY. 

Mrs.  W.  D.  Rodgers,  Chairman,  R.  No.  3,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Lloyd  At- 
kinson, Roseville;  Mrs.  W.  T.,  McBride,  Little  York;  Mrs.  C.  M.  Burford, 
R.  No.  2,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Fred  Winebright,  R.  No.  3,  Monmouth. 

INFORMATION. 

Mrs.  George  McVey,  Chairman,  R.  No.  5,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Arthur  Barr, 
R.  No.  3,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Robert  Hull,  R.  No.  7,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  E.  V. 
Moburg,  R.  No.  3,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  J.  C.  Stewart,  R.  No.  6,  Monmouth. 

RECEPTION. 

Mrs.  Frank  Jewell,  Chairman,  R.  No.  6,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Frank  Stewart,- 
R.  No.  6,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Earl  VanRiper,  Kirkwood;  Mrs.  R.  L.  VanGundy, 
201  S.  10th  St.,  Monmouth;  Mrs.  Frank  Winebright,  Kirkwood. 


11 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH 
ANNUAL  STATE  INSTITUTE  MEETING. 


Monmouth,  Illinois,  Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Friday,  February 
22,  23  and  24,  1922. 


WEDNESDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 


February  22,  9  o'Clock  A.  M. 
FRANK  I.  MANN,  President  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute,  Presiding. 

Male  Quartette Monmouth  College 

Invocation Rev.  J.  R.  McCtory 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  We  will  now  have  a  greeting  from  the  Mayor 
of  the  city,  Mr.  Chester  Smith. 

ADDRESS   OF  WELCOME. 
(Chester   Smith) 

I  am  always  a  little  bit  unhappy  when  they  introduce  me.  I  am  always 
afraid  some  day  somebody  will  get  up  and  tell  the  truth  and  say  "We  will 
now  have  a  few  commonplace  remarks  from  Monmouth.  Let  me  introduce 
the  Mayor." 

I  have  no  business  up  here  particularly.  When  I  go  to  speak  I  am  apt 
to  lose  my  head  a  little.  I  am  a  good  deal  like  that  German  they  tell 
about  in  the  late  war.  One  of  the  colored  regiments  were  ready  to  go  over 
the  top.  One  of  the  boys  lost  his  place  in  the  line.  The  order  came  to  go 
over  the  top.  This  fellow  did  not  have  his  gun,  his  bayonet,  his  trench 
knife  or  anything  else,  but  he  had  to  go  over.  He  went  over  the  top  and 
came  face  to  face  with  a  big  German.  There  was  just  one  thing  he  could 
do — reach  for  his  razor  and  swing  at  him.  The  German  says,  "Missed  me." 
The  colored  man  looked  at  him  and  said,  "Just  wait  until  you  shake  your 
head  and  see  whether  I  missed  you  or  not."  That  is  the  way  with  me. 
I  lose  my  head  at  a  time  like  this. 

I  take  it  I  am  here  in  my  official  capacity  as  mayor  of  Monmouth  to 
tell  you  gentlemen  how  glad  we  are  to  have  you  as  our  guests  in  our  town 
for  this  very  important  conference.  When  we  went  after  this  convention 
a  year  age  we  realized  the  importance  of  this  institute,  the  advertising  it 
would  give  a  town,  the  benefit  it  would  give  a  community  to  have  a  repre- 
sentative bunch  of  men  such  as  you  gentlemen  are  come  to  our  town,  and 
we  were  all  mighty  glad  when  you  decided  to  come. 

I  suppose  that  I  should  tell  you  a  little  about  our  town.  I  am  hoping 
that  you  will  find  out  in  a  better  way,  and  that  is  by  circulating  around 
and  meeting  our  business  people.  We  have  a  typical  mid-western  county 
seat  town  of  about  nine  thousand  people,  mostly  retired  farmers.  Mon- 


12 

mouth  is  a  friendly  town.  Monmouth  is  a  country  town.  We  are  smart 
enough  to  know  that  we  draw  our  sustenance  from  the  country.  We  do 
not  believe  that  we  are  doing  the  farmers  a  favor  when  we  let  them  drive 
their  cattle  in  here  and  spend  money  with  us.  We  know  they  are  doing 
us  a  favor.  We  try  to  do  business  along  those  lines.  We  are  trying  to 
make  Monmouth  a  town  that  is  popular  with  our  rural  population.  You 
may  call  that  selfish-minded,  or  whatever  you  wish. 

That  is  another  reason  we  are  glad  you  gentlemen  are  here,  because 
we  want  Monmouth  to  be  a  good  agricultural  community.  We  know  that 
the  old  days  have  passed  in  farming.  I  lived  in  Oklahoma  for  a  while  and 
I  saw  something  that  probably  a  good  many  of  you  gentlemen  have  never 
seen.  I  saw  as  many  as  five  men  working  on  a  load  of  corn.  If  they 
worked  all  day  they  would  probably  not  get  more  than  sixty  or  seventy 
bushels.  Nowadays  one  muscular  Swedish  gentleman  can  get  up  early  in 
the  morning  and  get  that  much  done  in  time  to  finish  the  pool  tournament 
in  the  afternoon.  I  know  it  is  a  changing  age.  You  men  typify  to  us  the 
vanguard,  or  the  leaders  in  this  changing  age  in  agriculture.  There  is 
more  education;  there  is  more  thought.  There  is  more  up-to-dateness  found 
on  the  farm  than  in  any  other  walk  of  life.  We  know  that  to  be  true.  The 
man  who  works  in  a  bank,  the  man  who  works  in  the  shop  develops  a 
one-track  mind, — if  you  will  pardon  that  old  expression.  A  farmer  has 
to  be  resourceful;  he  has  to  battle  elements.  You  gentlemen  are  the 
type  of  farmers  who  are  leading  this  advance  movement  in  farming.  I  am 
only  sorry  that  the  grain  market  is  closed  up  today.  I  would  like  to  tell 
you  how  much  wheat  is  up  this  morning,  but  since  this  is  a  holiday  I  can 
not  tell  you. 

I  want  to  tell  you  something  else  that  may  be  of  interest  to  many  of 
you.  I  am  a  country  grain  dealer.  I  run  one  of  these  little  elevators  that 
you  see  standing  along  the  track  every  few  miles.  We  have  been  in  busi- 
ness nine  years.  The  nine  years  we  have  been  in  business  we  have  never 
entered  into  a  contract  with  a  man  to  buy  or  deliver  his  grain.  There 
never  has  yet  been  a  scrap  of  paper  in  our  office  that  in  any  way  looked 
like  contract  that  has  been  broken.  In  nine  years'  time  we  have  had  exactly 
one  farmer  to  go  back  on  his  contract.  The  reason  I  tell  you  this  is  that 
I  want  you  to  know  that  we  have  some  regular  farmers  up  in  our  com- 
munity. You  know  how  it  is  in  different  communities.  That  is  the  kind 
of  farmers  we  have  in  our  community. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  going  to  make  a  speech.  I  simply  want  you  to 
realize  that  Monmouth  is  your  town.  We  are  glad  that  you  are  here.  We 
hope  your  institute  is  a  big  success,  and  we  will  meet  you  in  Belleville 
or  Paris  next  year.  [Applause.] 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  we  will  all  appreciate  being  'in  Mon- 
mouth a  few  days,  and  we  will  concede  that  this  is  quite  a  city.  Some  of 
us  have  come  from  small  towns,  those  towns  where  they  quit  ringing  the 
curfew  many  years  ago  because  it  woke  up  so  many  people.  We  believe 
Monmouth  has  gotten  beyond  that.  I  am  sure  we  will  appreciate  our 
stay  here. 

I  want  to  appoint  some  committees  this  morning.  The  Committee  on 
Resolutions:  Mr.  A.  N.  Abbott  of  Morrison,  Frank  S.  Haynes  of  Geneseo. 
George  A.  Switzer  of  Macomb,  E.  L.  Wilson  of  Manhattan  and  C.  V.  Gregory 
of  Chicago. 

It  has  been  the  custom  heretofore  to  refer  all  resolutions  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  without  being  presented  to  the  house  and  if  there 
is  no  objection  that  will  be  the  procedure  this  year. 

The  Committee  on  Credentials:  Mr.  O.  W.  Holt  of  Geneseo,  E.  Wright 
Allen  of  Decatur,  and  Chas.  Arnold  of  Franklin  Grove. 

That  committee  will  be  holding  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  next  door, 
and  those  of  you  who  are  delegates  file  your  credentials  there  and  become 
registered  before  the  regular  convention  later. 

There  is  nothing  nearer  to  the  heart  of  the  Institute  than  systems  of 
permanent  fertility.  We  want  you  also  to  understand  that  permanent 
systems  of  fertility  may  be  profitable  systems  and  hence  we  are  asking  a 


13 

few  men  to  present  to  you  their  experiences  in  conducting  permanent  sys- 
tems on  their  tfarms,  to  show  you  not  only  the  profit  but  the  permanency. 
We  will  first  near  from  Mr.  Ray  Gardner  of  Monmouth.  [Applause.] 

MORE   DOLLARS   PER   ACRE. 
(Ray  Gardner.) 

MB.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  GENTLEMEN:  We  have  found  that  limestone  is  an 
important  factor  in  permanent  fertility,  and  in  our  community  we  have 
used  quite  a  little  limestone  and  phosphate,  possibly  more  than  in  many 
communities.  In  any  community  one  of  the  greatest  troubles  about  using 
limestone  or  phosphate  is  getting  it  in  carload  lots  and  having  to  haul  it 
from  the  car  to  save  paying  demurrage.  We  have  formed  a  company  in 
our  community  and  have  built  a  warehouse,  a  large  warehouse  that  will 
hold  two  or  three  carloads  of  phosphate  and  the  same  amount  of  lime- 
stone and  anyone  can  go  and  get  it  any  time  they  want  to. 

Limestone,  should  be  used  pretty  heavy,  sometimes  as  heavy  as  four 
tons  to  the  acre.  My  experience  has  been  in  using  from  .one  to  two  tons 
to  the  acre.  I  know  one  ton  to  the  acre  makes  a  lot  of  difference  in  crops. 
It  grows  a  lot  more  clover.  I  had  one  tract  of  forty  acres  which  was  divided 
into  two  fields,  one  of  twenty-five  acres  and  one  of  fifteen  acres.  It  had 
been  some  years  since  the  twenty-five  acres  had  ever  been  seeded  and  I 
had  been  unable  to  get  it  to  take  clover.  It  would  start,  but  the  seasons 
were  so  dry  there  wasn't  enough  nutriment  in  the  soil  to  hold  the  plants. 
I  applied  a  ton  of  limestone  on  this  twenty-five  acres.  The  fifteen  acres 
had  been  seeded  as  much  as  three  different  times  in  its  regular  rotation. 
On  the  twenty-five  acres  the  red  clover  was  much  better  than  it  was  on 
the  fifteen,  and  there  was  an  excellent  stand  of  sweet  clover  in  it  from  a 
mixture  of  about  a  pound  to  a  pound  and  a  half  to  the  acre.  That  soil 
was  sweetened  in  that  time  by  one  ton  of  limestone  so  that  the  next  year 
sweet  clover  managed  to  take  the  field  all  right. 

On  another  field  of  twenty  acres  I  sowed  oats  with  a  mixture  of  about 
a  pound  and  a  half  of  sweet  clover.  Now  some  may  wonder  why  a  person 
would  sow  sweet  clover,  but  I  think  a  man's  ambition  on  the  farm  should 
be  to  some  day  reach  the  time  when  alfalfa  may  be  seeded  in  the  rotation. 
That  time  may  seem  a  long  ways  off,  but  it  don't  seem  as  far  to  me  now. 
This  inoculation  from  seeding  sweet  clover  scatters  from  one  plant  to 
another  and  covers  quite  an  area,  and  that  is  the  reason  I  do  it  that  way. 


Mr.  Gardner's  Sweet  Clover. 
(At  rear  of  car  one  ton  of  limestone  was  applied — at  front  no  application.) 


14 

On  this  twenty  acres  I  noticed  about  four-fifths  of  the  field  was  very 
well  seeded  to  sweet  clover  and  on  the  other  fifth  you  could  find  hardly  a 
plant.  Then  I  remembered  that  I  had  run  out  of  limestone  and  that  was 
why  there  wasn't  any  sweet  clover  over  in  the  other  strip. 

The  spreading  of  limestone  should  be  done  as  it  is  hauled  from  the 
car.  If  it  is  allowed  to  remain  and  rains  come  on  it  it  is  hard  to  spread  and 
you  must  have  a  regular  fertilizer  spreader.  There  are  nine  farmers 
having  a  co-operative  interest  in  the  spreader  we  have,  but  we  found  that 
it  would  not  handle  wet  limestone.  It  will  not  handle  limestone  that  has 
laid  out  all  winter,  but  an  end-gate  spreader  will  hande  it  when  it  is  even 
so  wet  that  you  can  make  a  ball  out  of  it. 

Now  in  regard  to  phosphate:  It  is  a  little  harder  to  see  any  vast  im- 
provement by  using  phosphate  rather  than  limestone,  and,  of  course,  it 
costs  quite  a  little  bit  more.  Nevertheless,  I  think  we  all  ought  to  have  more 
faith  in  experiments  by  men  who  have  used  it,  like  our  Honorable  President. 
My  own  experience  with  phosphate  has  shown  some  results.  When  it  comes 
to  clover  hay,  it  makes  on  an  average  of  at  least  50  percent  more  hay, 
and  the  oats  yield  more  heavily,  are  of  much  better  quality,  and  the  corn 
is  of  excellent  -quality.  In  the  regular  rotation  of  corn,  corn,  oats  and 
clover  I  think  it  should  be  applied  in  the  fall  on  the  oats  stubble.  Then 
the  growth  of  the  clover  feeds  that  into  the  soil  and  you  get  much  better 
results.  I  put  mine  on  the  meadow  and  the  results  are  not  quite  as  quick, 
but  it  is  there  and  ready  to  give  results  later. 

Another  thing  that  phosphate  will  do  to  quite  an  extent, — it  has  quite 
a  lot  of  sweetening  qualities.  I  found  on  the  forty  acres  where  I  sowed 
this  mixture,  there  is  quite  a  bit  of  alfalfa  and  sweet  clover  all  through 
the  field  and  it  seems  to  be  inoculated  and  in  fine  shape.  This  sweet  clover 
and  alfalfa  as  it  is  mixed  with  the  other  seed  is  inoculated.  I  think  a.  very 
good  mixture  for  seeding  is  four  pounds  of  common  clover,  two  pounds 
of  alsike,  three  of  timothy  and  one  of  alfalfa.  The  reason  that  I  don't 
include  sweet  clover  is  if  your  soil  is  sweet  you  are  going  to  get  a  little 
too  much  sweet  clover  from  the  mixture.  I  had  two  experiences  from  sweet 
clover  in  mixtures  and  they  were  not  just  what  I  would  like  to  have,  not 
as  a  pasture  or  as  a  meadow.  My  experience  .was  if  you  turn  the  stock 
out  they  will  eat  more  of  the  other  clover  and  neglect  the  sweet  clover 
and  it  soon  gets  coarse  it  grows  so  rapidly.  I  think  it  would  be  better  to 
sow  sweet  clover  by  itself,  either  for  pasture  or  for  hay,  as  it  comes  so 
much  faster.  I  have  had  some  sweet  clover  down  in  the  low  places  that 
was  at  least  eight  or  nine  feet  high.  We  disked  that  up  and  plowed  it 
under,  making  a  great  amount  of  fertilizer. 

Many  farmers  do  not  have  alfalfa,  but  I  know  if  they  once  had  alfalfa, 
they  would  not  do  without  it.  A  farmer  may  sow  sixty  acres  of  clover  for 
forage.  If  he  would  sow  twenty  acres  with  alfalfa  and  have  the  soil  limed 
he  would  have  as  much  feed,  and  have  the  forty  acres  to  do  something  else 
with.  Then  he  could  sow  sweet  clover,  get  the  soil  limed  and  sow  it  in 
sweet  clover  and  produce  three  times  as  much  fertilizer.  By  disking  the 
whole  crop  up  and  plowing  it  under,  root  system  and  tops,  you  would  in- 
crease the  fertility  three  times  as  much  as  plowing  under  by  clover  after 
it  had  been  cut  off.  Besides  it  could  be  used  for  pasture,  and  it  makes  a 
wonderful  pasture. 

Crop  rotation  is  a  wonderful  thing.  I  have  in  mind  a  small  farm.  The 
lady  said  she  seemed  to  know  a  little  more  about  the  farm  than  the  man. 
She  said  that  they  did  not  have  enough  grass,  that  they  could  not  sow 
clover,  they  needed  it  all  for  corn.  Well,  you  can  imagine  a  little  about 
what  the  condition  of  that  farm  was.  It  was  sold.  Another  man  took 
charge  of  this  place  and  when  he  moved  on  it  he  seeded  quite  a  bit.  He 
had  hard  work  smetimes  in  getting  clover  to  start,  but  he  went  to  his 
neighbor  and  rented  some  ground  from  him,  and  on  that  ground  he  pro- 
duced just  as  much  hay  and  grain  for  his  one-half  as  he  was  getting  from 
his  own.  He  says  his  crops  have  been  increased  50  percent  by  rotation. 
This  farm  is  one-quarter  oats,  one-quarter  clover  and  half  corn,  and  I 
understand  that  he  is  figuring  on  using  some  limestone  and  phosphate. 


15 

Above  all  things  we  ought  to  consider  more  alfalfa  and  sweet  clover, 
and  use  more  limestone  and  phosphate. 

I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  One  of  the  old  war  horses  in  the  work  on  per- 
manent fertility  in  this  state  has  been  Mr.  William  Webb,  of  Will  county, 
and  we  will  hear  from  him  now.  [Applause.] 

PROFITABLE  SOIL  TREATMENT. 
(Wm.  Webb.) 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  BROTHER  FARMERS  AND  FRIENDS:  I  have  been  asked  to 
talk  on  profitable  soil  treatment.  I  am  glad  to  hear  the  other  speaker 
emphasize  alfalfa,  because  I  think  alfalfa  is  one  of  the  greatest  crops  we 
can  grow. 

I  am  going  to  tell  you  a  little  about  some  work  that  has  been  done  on 
our  experiment  field  and  also  on  our  home  farm,  giving  you  the  way  our 
land  has  been  farmed  and  the  results  we  are  getting.  Then  you  can  judge 
for  yourselves  whether  it  has  the  proper  soil  treatment  or  not. 

We  started  to  use  rock  phosphate  in  1908.  At  that  time  we  used  to 
put  it  on  in  strips,  to  find  out  whether  it  would  pay  for  itself  or  not,  or 
give  results  enough  to  pay.  Then  we  started  putting  it  on  in  parts  of 
fields.  We  soon  found  that  rock  phosphate  properly  applied  to  fields  that 
had  been  rotated  the  right  way  with  leguminous  crops  enough  to  build 
up  the  nitrogen  content,  with  the  clover  roots  going  down  in  the  subsoil 
and  putting  plenty  of  humus  in  the  soil,  draining  and  aerating  the  soil 
in  such  a  way  that  the  corn  roots  can  go  down  in  the  subsoil  and  get 
part  of  the  plant  food  and  not  take  it  all  from  the  surface  soil, — would  pay 
for  itself  several  times  over. 

In  1914  the  University  of  Illinois  started  an  experiment  field  on  our 
farm  and  I  have  had  charge  of  the  work  on  that  field  ever  since.  I  have 
seen  results  enough  from  the  soil  treatment  to  convince  me  that  we  can 
build  up  the  soil  fertility  and  raise  a  large  crop  at  the  same  time. 

In  1915  the  full  treatment  was  put  on  this  field,  using  the  five-year 
rotation,  corn,  oats,  clover,  wheat  and  soybeans.  In  addition  to  that  we 
had  one  series  of  alfalfa  that  would  lay  for  five  years,  then  that  would  be 
plowed  up  and  turned  over  into  one  of  the  other  series. 

CROP   SYSTEMS    AND   RESULTS. 

We  were  practicing  two  systems  of  farming,  livestock  and  grain  farm- 
ing. Plots  numbers  1,  5  and  10  were  non-treated  plots,  or  check  plots. 
Plot  number  2  which  is  in  the  livestock  system  is  treated  with  barnyard 
fertilizer.  Plot  number  3,  barnyard  fertilizer  and  limestone.  Plot  number 

4,  barnyard   fertilizer,   limestone   and   rock   phosphate.     Then  ^plot   number 

5,  as  I  said,  was  a  check  plot.    Then  we  go  to  plot  number  6,  which  is  in 
the  grain  system.     In  the  grain  farm  system  we  have  no  manure,  we  have 
to  substitute  something  in  place  of  manures,  so  we  substitute  catch  crops 
and  crop  residue,   sowing  sweet  clover  in   our  winter  wheat   early   in   the 
spring,  and  then  leaving  that  until  the  next  spring,  then  plowing  it  under 
for  a  green  manure  with  crop   residue.     Plot   7,   catch   crop,   crop   residue 
and  lime.     Plot  8,  catch  crop,  crop  residue,  lime  and  rock  phosphate.     Plot 
9,  catch  crop,  crop  residue,  lime,  phosphorus  and  potassium.    The  potassium 
does  not  pay  for  itself,  except  on  the  sweet  clover;  it  makes  quite  an  addi- 
tional growth   in  the  sweet  clover.      Since  we  have   been   using   the   sweet 
clover  I  think  we  are  getting  something  out  of  the  potassium,   on  account 
of  the  extra  growth  in  sweet  clovers  plowed  under. 

This  system  has  been  carried  on  for  six  years.  They  are  changing  the 

system  now.     I  am  going  to  give  you  some  of  the  results  obtained  in  the 

average  yield  in  that  six-year  rotation.     As  I  told  you,   it  was  corn,  oats, 
clover,  wheat  and  soybeans. 


16 

Now  the  average  yield  on  the  grain  farming  system  has  been  quite  a 
little  better  than  in  the  stock  farming  system.  These  are  field  weights  in 
round  numbers  which  I  will  give  you.  The  average  gain  per  acre  on  the 
treated  plots  over  the  non-treated  plots  for  the  six  years  in  corn  was  20 
bushels;  the  average  gain  for  the  six  years  in  wheat  was  18  bushels;  the 
average  gain  for  six  years  in  oats  was  15  bushels;  the  average  gain  for 
six  years  in  alfalfa  was  a  ton  and  half  per  acre.  The  gain  for  clover  and 
soybean  hay  is  about  one  ton  per  acre. 

WHAT    THIS    MEANS    ON    160    ACRES. 

Now  I  am  going  to  take  a  field  of  160  acres  and  farm  it  in  this  way, 
using  this  same  rotation.  I  am  going  to  apply  4,000  pounds  of  limestone 
per  acre  on  the  whole  160  acres,  and  that  will  cost  us  at  the  present  prices, 
spread  over  our  land,  $800  for  the  160  acres — of  course  it  makes  some  differ- 
ence where  you  are  located  as  to  the  cost  for  treatment.  Then  I  will  apply 
2,000  pounds  of  rock  phosphate  per  acre  to  the  entire  160  acres,  and  that 
will  cost  us  at  the  present  price  $1910.  This  makes  a  total  cost  of  $2710 
for  treatment.  Now  I  am  going  to  figure  that  that  will  last  for  ten  years, 
— and  it  will  last  longer.  Figuring  corn  at  fifty  cents  a  bushel,  wheat  at  a 
dollar  per  bushel,  oats  at  thirty-five  cents  a  bushel,  clover  and  soybean 
hay  at  fifteen  dollars  a  ton,  alfalfa  hay  at  twenty  dollars  a  ton,  pasture 
gain  from  treatment  two  dollars  and  a  half  an  acre,  we  get  a  total  gain 
from  the  treatment  on  160  acres  for  one  year  of  $1,896;  for  ten  years  we 
will  get  $18,960.  Subtracting  the  cost  of  the  treatament  for  the  ten  years, 
which  was  $2710,  we  have  a  balance  of  $16,250  in  gain  for  our  treatment 
in  the  ten  years. 

Now,  if  we  go  on  and  put  the  same  treatment  on  at  the  same  cost 
and  carry  it  on  for  another  ten  years,  figuring  grain  at  the  same  price, 
we  will  then  have  for  the  twenty  years  $32,500  gain  for  treatment  over 
and  above  cost  of  treatment.  In  other  words,  we  would  pay  the  principal 
on  160  acres  of  land  in  twenty  years  of  $203  per  acre,  or  in  twenty-five 
years  we  would  pay  the  principal  of  $254  per  acre.  If  we  figure  the  cost 
of  material  for  soil  treatment  at  what  it  was  about  seven  years  ago  that 
would  reduce  it  nearly  one-third,  or  from  sixteen  years  to  twenty-two  years 
to  pay  for  a  farm  at  those  prices. 

RESULTS   ON    HOME   FARM. 

Now  about  the  results  from  soil  treatment  on  our  own  farm,  telling 
how  the  farm  has  been  farmed  from  year  to  year.  We  had  in  1915  one 
field  of  pasture  in  mixed  clover,  consisting  of  mammoth  clover,  red  clover, 
alsike,  alfalfa  and  a  little  timothy.  We  used  a  little  timothy  in  the  field 
to  hold  up  the  alsike.  Alsike  grows  close  to  the  ground,  but  when  held 
up  by  the  timothy,  it  makes  a  much  better  pasture.  In  the  fall  we  plowed 
this  field  from  six  to  six  and  a  half  inches  deep.  In  the  spring  of  1916, 
and  fall  of  1917,  we  applied  2,000  pounds  of  rock  phosphate  per  acre  to  this 
field  and  also  to  our  entire  farm.  We  put  a  great  deal  of  work  on  the 
field  to  get  the  right  kind  of  seed-bed.  We  disked  it  deep  and  rolled  it 
several  times  with  a  corrugated  roller  to  get  a  good  compact  seed-bed.  If 
you  have  a  tin  Lizzie  and  can  run  over  it  on  high  you  will  then  have  a 
good  seed-bed.  We  then  seeded  10  pounds  of  scarified  alfalfa  seed  per  acre 
with  a  bushel  of  barley  as  a  nurse  crop,  seeded  with  a  drill,  then  rolled 
with  a  corrugated  roller  both  ways.  We  had  intended  to  cut  the  barley 
for  hay.  After  the  barley  was  headed  I  went  into  it  to  see  if  it  was  ready 
to  cut  for  hay,  and  found  the  alfalfa  was  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches 
high, — a  good  stand,  good  dark  green  color.  Barley  was  a  good  price  that 
year.  The  barley  seemed  to  be  filling  fine,  the  heads  were  large  and  they 
hung  over,  so  it  looked  to  me  as  though  they  were  filling  well.  I  might 
illustrate  that  by  telling  a  story: 

There  was  a  darkey  walking  along  stooped  over,  head  hanging  down. 
He  met  his  young  master.  His  master  said  to  him,  "Sambo,  why  don't  you 
strainghten  up  and  hold  up  your  head?"  The  darkey  said  "Massa,  see 


1? 

dat  barley  field  over  there,"  "Yes,  Sambo."  "Well,  see  dem  heads  what 
hang  over?"  "Yes,  Sambo."  "Well,  dem  am  de  heads  what  got  something 
in  them,  de  heads  dat  stand  up  straight  aint  got  nothin'  in  dem." 

The  heads  were  very  well  filled,  because  they  threshed  out  seventy 
bushels  to  the  acre. 

In  1918  the  alfalfa  came  out  in  good  shape, — cut  6  tons  per  acre.  In 
1919,  the  alfalfa  cut  the  first  cutting  6,200  pounds  per  acre.  At  time  of 
second  cutting  it  was  rather  dry,  but  it  cut  3,100  pounds  per  acre.  We 
then  turned  the  hogs  into  it  and  did  not  cut  it  again,  only  just  to  clip  it. 
In  1920  we  plowed  the  field  up  and  it  yiealded  us  86  bushels  of  corn  per 
acre.  In  1921  this  field  made  32  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre. 

In  1916  we  had  one  other  field  that  was  a  mixed  pasture,  the  same 
as  I  have  described.  This  field  was  plowed  in  the  fall  of  1916,  six  and  a 
half  inches  deep.  In  1917  this  field  was  in  corn.  It  was  one  of  the  best 
looking  fields  of  corn  that  I  had  ever  seen.  I  expected  a  good  deal  from 
this  field,  but  on  the  night  of  September  9th  we  had  a  killing  frost  which 
hurt  the  field  pretty  much,  but  not  nearly  as  much  as  the  adjoining  fields 
that  had  not  been  treated  with  rock  phosphate.  We  turned  cattle  and 
hogs  into  the  field.  The  field  made  us  $62.50  an  acre  over  and  above  what 
our  brood  sows  got  out  of  it  cleaning  up  the  field.  In  the  spring  of  1918 
we  put  one-half  of  this  field  into  spring  wheat,  the  other  half  in  barley, 
seeding  two  bushels  of  wheat  yer  acre,  one  bushel  of  barley  per  acre.  The 
wheat  threshed  out  55  bushels  per  acre  and  the  barley  threshed  out  a  little 
over  75  bushels  per  acre. 

We  turned  seventy-five  head  of  hogs  into  this  field  and  they  ran  in  the 
field  four  weeks,  cleaned  up  the  wheat  and  barley  and  pasturing  on  the 
rape  which  we  had  seeded  in  for  hog  feed.  In  1919  this  field  was  in  corn 
and  made  85  bushels  per  acre.  In  1920  half  of  the  field  was  seeded  to 
mammoth  clover  and  half  of  the  field  seeded  to  alfalfa.  In  1920  we  cut 
the  clover  for  seed  and  spread  the  straw  back  on  our  land,  the  alfalfa  cut 
three  cuttings  better  than  3,000  pounds  per  acre,  and  we  could  have  cut 
it  a  fourth  time,  but  we  turned  the  hogs  into  it  instead. 

Q.  One  question  sir.  You  spoke  of  plowing  up  the  mammoth  clover; 
did  you  thresh  it? 

Mr.  WEBB:     We  threshed  it  and  then  put  the  straw  on  the  ground. 

In  1919  we  had  a  small  field  of  Turkey  Red  winter  wheat  that  made 
55  bushels  to  the  acre. 

Q.    How  much  rock  phosphate  did  you  say  you  applied? 

Mr.  WEBB:  Two  thousand  pounds  of  rock  phosphate  per  acre  had 
been  applied  in  1916. 

In  1920  corn  made  82  bushels  per  acre;  1921  winter  wheat  45  bushels 
per  acre.  In  the  fall  of  1919  we  seeded  a  thirty  acre  field  with  Turkey 
Red  winter  wheat.  Half  of  this  field  was  a  mixed  clover.  We  plowed  the 
clover  sod  and  drilled  in  the  wheat  and  it  yielded  50  bushels  per  acre. 

The  other  half  of  the  field  was  corn.  The  corn  field  had  been  a  mixed 
clover  the  year  before.  The  yield  from  the  corn  field  was  44  bushels  per 
acre.  In  1921  the  field  was  in  corn  and  made  80  bushels  per  acre.  In  the 
spring  of  1920  it  was  pretty  wet  and  we  had  a  pond  of  water  standing  on 
the  wheat,  on  the  same  wheat  that  I  have  been  telling  you  about.  That 
covered  probably  five  acres.  That  water  had  been  standing  there  for 
quite  a  while.  I  began  to  think  the  water  would  drown  out  the  wheat. 
The  ground  had  been  frozen  and  the  water  could  not  get  through  to  the 
tile.  On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  March  I  told  my  wife  if  the  water 
did  not  go  off  pretty  soon  the  wheat  would  be  lost,  but  that  day  at  noon 
a  tornado  came  along  which  took  the  water  all  out  of  that  pond  and  saved 
us  five  acres  of  good  wheat. 

Don't  understand  me  to  say  that  I  recommend  that  kind  of  drainage. 
I  do  not.  While  it  was  taking  the  water  out  of  that  pond  it  took  one  set 
of  our  buildings  along  also. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  we  should  take  the  best  care  of  our 
seeds  that  we  are  to  use  for  planting;  see  to  it  that  they  are  free  from 
disease,  corn  free  iruni  root  rot,  then  plant  on  soil  that  has  been  rotated 


18 


in  the  right  way.  The  plants  will  then  grow  better,  stronger  and  will  be 
better  able  to  resist  insects  and  disease. 

When  we  feed  our  stock  we  know  they  grow  faster  on  a  balanced 
ration.  Our  most  dangerous  criminals  are  our  educated  criminals.  Why? 
Because  their  education  is  not  balanced.  Many  of  them  are  lacking  in 
physical  education,  many  more  in  mental  education.  When  we  take  the 
right  kind  of  care  of  our  boys  and  girls  and  give  them  a  balanced  educat- 
tion  physically,  mentally  and  morally,  they  will  grow  up  to  be  noble  men 
and  women  and  then  they  will  be  able  to  straighten  out  the  troubles  in 
this  old  world  of  ours  in  other  ways  than  by  wars  and  bloodshed. 

I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  there  is  no  one  in  the  state  who  has 
been  doing  work  in  permanent  agriculture  more  consistently  and  has  kept 
more  thorough  data  on  what  is  done  than  Mr.  J.  C.  Meis  of  Livingston 
County,  and  he  will  talk  to  us  now.  [Applause.] 


PERMANENT  AGRICULTURE. 

(J.  C.  Meis.) 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  FARMER  FRIENDS  OF  ILLINOIS:  I  am  not  going  to 
enter  into  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  this  soil  treatment,  because  it  is 
conceded  that  it  is  the  thing  to  do.  As  the  topic  calls  for  us  to  give  our 

profit  I  thought  it  probably  was  the  most 
profitable  thing  for  you  if  I  would  give  the 
profits  that  I  have  received  from  this  work. 

I  don't  know  whether  there  are  any  of  you 
men  here  who  have  the  same  trouble  that  I 
have  in  my  neighborhood.  I  am  called  a  crank 
on  phosphate.  Usually  when  a  man  departs 
from  a  certain  custom  and  gets  out  of  the  rut 
he  is  called  a  crank.  Beginning  the  use  of 
raw  rock  phosphate  is  really  the  hardest  part 
of  the  proposition, — the  ordering  of  that  first 
carload, — therefore  I  am  going  to  tell  how  I 
got  started. 

GETTING    STARTED    WITH    PHOSPHATE. 

I  moved  on  my  present  farm  the  spring  of 
1906,  moving  back  to  Livingston  County  from 
Iowa  where  I  had  lived  four  years.  During 
the  summer  of  1906  I  discovered  from  the 
crops  I  raised  and  from  the  talk  of  my  neigh- 
bors that  I  did  not  have  a  very  productive 
farm.  During  the  summer  I  had  several  talks 
with  a  lumber  dealer  in  Fairbury  who  was 
born  and  grew  to  manhood  on  a  farm  in  New 
J.  C.  Meis  York.  He  showed  me  several  bulletins  from 

the  University  of  Illinois,  showing  the  increase 
in  crops  from  the  use  of  raw  rock  phosphate, 

and  he  also  told  what  had  happened  to  their  land  in  New  York  where  they 
had  grown  good  crops  of  grain  and  clovers  and  that  their  clovers  began  to 
fail.  They  could  not  get  a  stand,  and  later  their  grain  crops  were  not  large 
enough  to  be  profitable.  He  had  visited  the  old  neighborhood  after  being 
gone  for  many  years  and  found  the  old  home  farm  could  be  bought  for  $50 
an  acre,  whereas  it  could  have  been  sold  for  $200  an  acre  when  he  was  a 
young  man. 

He  finally  ordered  a  small  carload  and  intended  to  sell  it  at  cost.  He 
had  a  hard  time  to  dispose  of  it.  He  had  expected  to  get  his  profit  later 
by  doing  a  larger  lumber  business  when  he  had  gotten  all  the  farmers 
around  Fairbury  to  use  phosphate  and  thereby  raising  larger  crops.  I 
bought  two  tons  of  this  carload  and  applied  it  with  an  old  end-gate  grain 
seeder  on  one  side  of  an  oats  stubble  field,  during  the  fall  of  1906.  I  had 


19 

failed  to  get  a  stand  of  clover  in  this  field.  I  applied  it  at  the  rate  of  1,000 
pounds  per  acre. 

I  watched  this  piece  like  a  small  boy  watches  his  prize  colt,  calf  or 
pig,  but  was  disappointed  in  the  corn  of  1907,  the  oats  of  1908  and  the 
wheat  of  1909,  as  I  could  see  no  results.  I  rather  began  to  go  back  on  my 
New  York  friend,  but  first  determined  to  find  out  if  I  had  used  it  correctly. 
During  the  winter  of  1908  and  1909  I  went  to  a  farmers'  institute  and 
heard  Dr.  Hopkins  talk  on  raw  rock  phosphate.  I  now  know  why  I  had  no 
results. 

In  the  spring  of  1909  I  got  nine  tons  and  put  it  on  twenty  acres  that 
had  been  in  clover  in  1908.  I  said  "clover",  but  honestly  it  was  just  a 
pretense  at  clover.  This  twenty  acres  was  immediately  plowed  and  planted 
to  corn  and  yielded  five  bushels  more  per  acre  than  the  other  fields.  This 
hardly  satisfied  me  as  I  did  not  yet  know  what  caused  the  increase, — the 
clover  or  the  phosphate. 

It  was  in  1910  that  I  really  knew  I  had  gotten  results.  The  four  acres 
where  I  had  applied  the  first  two  tons  was  in  clover  with  the  balance  of  the 
field.  The  difference  between  the  field  that  had  phosphate  and  that  which 
had  no  phosphate  was  as  noticeable  as  a  dead  furrow,  there  being  more 
than  twice  as  much  clover  on  the  phosphated  ground. 

The  twenty  acres  that  had  been  phosphated  in  1909  was  put  in  oats  in 
1910.  This  gave  an  increase  of  15  bushels  per  acre  more  than  my  other 
fields. 

Then  I  was  sure  that  raw  rock  phosphate  had  given  results,  but  as 
some  farmers  began  to  ask  questions  and  others  to  scoff  and  I  could  not 
explain  the  real  reason  I  managed  to  get  Dr.  Hopkins  to  speak  at  a  farm- 
ers' institute  in  Fairbury.  One  statement  that  Dr.  Hopkins  made  was 
very  encouraging  to  me.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  a  farmer  having  160 
acres  and  not  being  able  to  borrow  the  money  could  sell  40  acres  to  get 
the  money  and  apply  the  Illinois  System  of  Permanent  Fertility  to  the 
remaining  120  acres  and  make  more  money  than  if  the  160  acres  were 
farmed.  The  following  spring  of  1911  I  borrowed  money  to  buy  my  first 
carload,  32  tons,  of  raw  rock  phosphate. 

In  1912  I  was  in  DeKalb  County  and  called  upon  William  Eckhardt 
the  first  morning  he  opened  the  Farm  Bureau  office.  After  some  talk  with 
him  and  stating  that  I  would  like  to  see  a  County  Advisor  in  Livingston 
County  so  as  to  know  more  about  the  types  of  soil,  he  suggested  that  I 
get  some  soil  man  from  the  University  of  Illinois  to  go  over  my  farm  and 
make  a  soil  map.  I  secured  Mr.  Gustafson  to  do  this  for  me  in  September, 
1912.  From  him  I  learned  that  I  had  a  type  of  soil  termed  a  sandy  phase 
of  brown  silt  loam,  very  low  in  organic  matter,  quite  acid  and  deficient  in 
phosphorus. 

I  have  given  this  in  detail  to  show  how  slow  I  was  in  getting  started. 
I  know  now  that  1  could  have  gotten  my  information  sooner,  but  there 
is  certainly  no  excuse  for  being  so  slow  now,  with  all  the  information  from 
the  University  and  with  the  county  advisors  in  nearly  every  county. 

I  have  three  methods  to  show  my  results  from  the  use  of  raw  rock 
phosphate.  In  the  following  table  I  have  a  comparison  of  results  on  the 
farm  during  the  years  I  was  making  the  first  application  of  raw  rock 
phosphate: 

CAMPARISON  OF  RESULTS  ON  FARM. 

No 

Phosphate.     Phosphate.  Increase, 

bushels.          bushels.  bushels. 

1910  Oats    45  30  15 

Clover  More  than   doubled. 

1911  Corn     40  35  5 

1912  Corn     71%  53%  18 

Oats    78  53  25 

1913  Corn     48  42  6 

Clover  More   than  doubled. 

1914  Oats    47  38  9 

Clover  More  than  doubled. 

1917     Corn     63  45  18 


I  have  already  told  of  the  increase  in  1910  of  the  nine  tons  put  on  in 
1909  on  twenty  acres, — 15  bushels  per  acre  increase  of  oats;  and  of  clover 
from  the  first  two  tons  put  on  in  1906,  clover  more  than  doubled  in  1910. 

In  1911  the  field  that  was  in  phosphated  oats  in  1910  gave  an  increased 
yield  of  5  bushels  of  corn  per  acre. 

In  1912  thirty-six  acres  of  phosphated  corn  yielded  71%  bushels  per 
acre  and  the  balance  of  corn  on  the  farm  53%  bushels  per  acre,  giving  an 
increase  of  18  bushels. 

Oats  on  ten  acres  of  phosphated  ground  yielded  78  bushels,  balance 
of  oats  53  bushels,  an  increase  of  25  bushels  per  acre. 

In  1913  the  same  thirty-six  acres  was  put  back  into  corn  and  gave  an 
increase  of  6  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  above  balance  of  corn  on  the  farm. 

In  1913,  I  had  sixty  acres  of  clover,  twenty  acres  of  which  was  phos- 
phated with  the  nine  tons  in  1909,  and  forty  acres  of  clover  in  the  same 
field.  County  Advisor  Bishop  held  a  demonstration  in  this  field  June  17, 
1913.  Seventy  automobiles  were  lined  up  and  over  three  hundred  people 
were  present.  Everyone  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  clover  was  more  than 
doubled. 

In  1914  oats  on  the  thirty-six  acres  gave  an  increase  of  9  bushels  per 
acre  more  than  the  balance  of  the  farm. 

Clover  more  than  doubled  on  a  sixty  acre  field  and  was  said  to  be  the 
finest  large  field  of  clover  in  the  county.  I  failed  to  get  a  stand  of  clover 
on  this  field  in  1907,  1909  and  1911,  and  I  also  would  have  failed  in  1913 
if  the  oats  had  not  been  exceptionally  thin.  Rock  phosphate  was  applied 
during  the  fall  of  1913,  and  as  stated,  clover  was  doubled  in  1914.  In 
the  fall  of  1914  I  had  gone  over  the  balance  of  the  farm  and  now  the 
entire  320  acres  had  been  covered  with  one  ton  per  acre  of  rock  phos- 
phate and  an  extra  forty  tons  had  been  put  on  the  little  knolls  and  ridges. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1916  I  bought  an  adjoining  eighty  acre  farm  and  in 
1917  it  was  all  put  into  corn,  yielding  45  bushels  per  acre  and  the  corn 
on  the  home  farm,  ninety-two  acres,  made  63  bushels  per  acre, — 18  bushels 
per  acre  increase  in  favor  of  the  phosphate. 

The  following  tables  give  a  comparison  for  a  period  of  years: 


YIELD    WITHOUT    ROCK    PHOSPHATE     FOR    SIX     YEARS. 


1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
1911 


1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 


Corn 
Corn 
Corn 
Corn 
Corn 
Corn 


Total 


1906  Oats 

1907  Oats 

1908  Oats 

1909  Oats 

1910  Oats 

1911  Oats 


Total 

Wheat 
Wheat 
Wheat 
Wheat 


1911     Wheat 


Acres. 
150 
120 
84 
134 
114 
114 

716 

134 

105 

60 

84 
84 
64 

531 

40 
80 
36 
43 
40 


Bushels. 
6,350 
4,650 
2,740 
5,410 
4,560 
4,140 


4,425 
2,715 
1,500 
3,360 
2,520 
2,240 


1,080 
1,680 

612 
1,075 

760 


Average 
bushels 
per  acre. 

42 

39 

32 

40 

40 

36 


27,850     Net  39 


26 
25 
40 
30 
35 


16.760     Net  31 


27 
21 
17 
25 
19 


Total 


239 


5,207     Net  21 


YIELD  WITH  ROCK  PHOSPHATE  FOR  SEVEN  YEARS. 


1915  Corn     . 

1916  Corn     . 

1917  Corn     ., 

1918  Corn     . 

1919  Corn     . 

1920  Corn     .  , 

Total 

1921  Corn     .  . 

1915  Oats     .  . 

1916  Oats     .  . 

1917  Oats    .  . 

1918  Oats     . 

1919  Oats    .. 

1920  Oats     .. 

Total 

1921  Oats     .  . 

1915  Wheat 

1916  Wheat 

1917  Wheat 

1918  Wheat 

1919  Wheat 

1920  Wheat 

Total 

1921  Wheat 


Bushels. 
6,710 
6,100 
5,780 
9,075 
6,050 
8,100 


Average 
bushels 
per  acre. 

55 

50 

63 

55 

55 

45 


791 

118 
25 
57 

100 
80 
80 
70 

412 

130 

136 

64 

60 

70 

155 

80 

565 
54 


41,815     Net  52 


4,720 
1,900 
3,041 
6,300 
3,600 
3,200 
3,010 


40 
76 
53 
63 
45 
40 
43 


51 


21,051     Net  51 


6,500 
4,692 
1,536 
1,590 
2,660 
3,255 
1,760 

15,493 
2  172 


50 
34 
24 
26 
38 
21 
22 

Net  27 
40 


28 


In  these  tables  are  given  the  yields  without  phosphorus  for  six  years, 
1906-11,  inclusive,  for  corn  and  oats  and  five  years  for  wheat.  And  then 
the  yields  with  phosphorus  for  seven  years,  1915-1921,  inclusive,  having 
tabulated  the  first  six  years  together  and  then  adding  the  seventh,  in  order 
to  make  comparison  with  the  first  six-year  period. 

If  my  average  for  corn  in  the  first  six  years  would  have  been  52  bushels, 
as  it  was  in  the  second  six  years,  I  could  have  grown  the  27,852  bushels 
on  536  acres  instead  of  716  acres,  or  180  acres  less,  and  therefore  30  acres 
less  corn  for  each  year. 

If  the  average  for  oats  had  been  51  bushels  for  the  first  six  years 
instead  of  31  bushels  it  would  have  taken  only  329  acres  to  have  grown 
the  16,760  bushels,  or  202  acres  less,  and  therefore  33  acres  less  oats  for 
each  year. 

Taking  27  bushels  of  wheat,  the  average  of  the  second  six  years,  instead 
of  21  bushels,  the  average  of  the  first  five  years,  the  5,207  bushels  could 
have  been  grown  on  192  acres  instead  of  239  acres,  or  47  acres  less,  making 
an  average  of  over  9  acres  less  for  each  of  the  five  years.  This  gives  a  total 
of  72  acres  less  grain  for  each  year,  or  approximately  one-fourth  of  the  320 
acres,  which  could  have  been  in  clover. 

Why  was  the  average  so  low  in  the  first  six  years?  This  is  easily 
explained.  My  soil  was  very  low  in  organic  matter,  therefore  low  in  nitrogen 
and  available  plant  foods.  During  this  time  I  could  hardly  get  a  stand  of 
clover. 

In  1916  a  chemical  analysis  was  made  of  the  soil  on  an  adjoining 
farm,  same  type  of  soil  and  about  the  same  system  of  farming  in  previous 
years.  The  analysis  showed  3,000  pounds  of  nitrogen  and  800  pounds  of 
phosphorus  in  the  plowed  soil.  No  wonder  my  yields  were  so  small.  They 
are  still  small,  but  that  is  mostly  my  fault,  because  I  did  what  nearly  every 
farmer  did  during  the  high  prices  of  grain, — cut  out  clover  and  put  all  the 
land  into  grain. 

ACTUAL  CASH  VALUE  BECORD. 

In  order  to  determine  the  actual  cash  value  of  the  crop  increase  I 
have  kept  a  record  of  the  crop  yields  of  the  threshing  run  and  then 


figured  the  increase  at  the  actual  price  I  received  for  my  own  crops  that 
year.    The  following  table  gives  this  record: 


Corn                

Acres. 

(1915) 
122 

Increase 
per  acre, 
bushels. 

10 

Price. 
$0.76 

Value  of 
Increase, 
bushels. 

$927.20 

Oats     

25 

20 

.50 

250.00 

Wheat                           

136 

6 

1.03 

837.48 

Total   increase  for  year    

$2,014.68 

Corn     

(1916) 
122 

5 

$0.90 

$549.00 

Oats                           

57 

10 

.50 

285.00 

Wheat           

64 

14 

1.20 

1,075.20 

Total  increase  for  year  

$1,909.20 

Corn     

(1917) 
92 

18 

$1.34 

$2,219.04 

Oats                 

100 

5 

.68 

340.00 

Wheat     

60 

10 

2.30 

1.380.00 

Total  increase  for  year    

$3,939.04 

Corn       .         

(1918) 
165 

10 

$1  25 

$2,062.50 

Oats    

80 

7 

.66 

369.60 

Wheat                       

70 

10 

2  10 

1  470  00 

Total  increase  for  year    

$3,902.10 

Corn     

(1919) 
110 

10 

$1.20 

$1  320.00 

Oats    

80 

3 

.80 

192  00 

Wheat                    

155 

3 

2  11 

981  15 

Total  increase  for  year  

$2  493.15 

Corn     

(1920) 
180 

15 

$0  55 

$1  485  00 

Oats     

70 

5 

.40 

140  00 

Wheat     

80 

5 

2  50 

1  000  00 

Total  increase  for  year  

2  625  00 

Corn     

(1921) 
180 

Oats     

130 

15 

$0  30 

$585  00 

Wheat     

54 

12     ' 

1  11 

719  28 

Total  increase  for  year  

$1  304  28 

Total   increase   for   1915-1921  

18  187  45 

Increase   before    1915  

1  316  00 

Total   increase    

$19  503  45 

Cost  of   1,252   tons  phosphate.. 

$10.580.00 

This  leaves  a  nice  profit,  but  the  most  important  fact  is  that  most  of 
the  phosphate  is  still  in  the  ground  waiting  for  the  clovers  to  come  along 
and  release  it. 

If  the  entire  volume  of  grain  produced  since  1915  is  taken  it  will  be 
found  that  only  about  60  tons  of  the  1252  tons  of  raw  rock  phosphate  has 
been  used. 

Q.     Mr.    Meis,  in  figuring  the  cost  are  you  figuring  labor? 

Mr.  MEIS:  My  labor  on  that  has  not  been  very  big,  because  I  have 
been  able  to  get  that  mostly  in  the  fall  of  the  year  and  I  have  not  had 
very  far  to  haul,  from  two  to  four  miles.  I  haven't  figured  any  labor,  just 
the  actual  cost  of  the  phosphate. 

Q.     Have  you  applied  that  on  400  acres? 

Mr.  MEIS:     That  is  on  400  acres.     I  had  320  to  start  with. 

Q.  Mr.  Meis,  you  have  got  about  $9,000  profit  there.  How  much  phos- 
phorus have  you  got  in  your  soil?  You  put  on  three  tons.  You  have  got 
phosphorus  to  run  you  for  a  good  while,  haven't  you? 

Mr.  MEIS:  A  good  many  years.  I  have  not  really  taken  this  up  with 
anybody.  Mr.  Mann  can  probably  tell  you  more  about  it.  I  figure  that  this 


23 

amount  of  corn,  this  amount  of  oats,  this  amount  of  wheat  which  has  been 
taken  off  of  the  land  has  used  up  60  tons  of  the  raw  rock  phosphate  and 
that  I  have  about  1192  tons  left.  Is  that  right,  Mr.  Mann? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     Approximately,  yes,  sir. 

Mr.  MEIS:  So  I  have  got  a  large  bank  account  to  start  on.  I  will  put 
it  this  way,  gentlemen,  that  our  farm  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  bank. 
We  have  got  a  certain  amount  of  fertility.  If  we  take  out  a  little  more 
every  year  and  don't  put  it  back,  land  ruin  stares  us  in  the  face.  There 
is  no  way  to  get  around  it.  If  I  can  put  on  the  mineral  elements  at  this 
cost  and  only  use  60 'tons  and  get  $9,000  profit  out  of  it,  I  have  got  a  good 
many  years  left.  I  don't  expect  to  get  it  out  myself.  I  expect  my  children 
to  get  a  lot  of  this  out  after  I  am  gone. 

SATISFACTION    AS    WELL    AS     PROFIT. 

Now  just  another  word.  This  is  from  the  standpoint  of  dollars  and 
cents.  It  means  more  than  that  to  me.  It  means  a  lot  of  satisfaction.  I 
begin  to  feel  like  I  am  a  farmer  and  not  a  miner.  Heretofore  I  was  a 
miner  of  the  soil.  I  was  robbing  my  bank  account,  taking  everything  out 
and  putting  nothing  back.  I  begin  to  feel  that  this  old  farm  of  mine  is 
a  whole  lot  better  now  than  when  I  got  hold  of  it,  and  I  am  going  to  be 
able  to  leave  my  five  boys  and  one  girl  a  whole  lot  better  farm  than  when 
I  got  it. 

How  could  I  make  farming  more  profitable?  It  is  a  profit  from  the 
dollars  and  cents  standpoint  and  it  is  a  profit  from  the  satisfaction  T  got 
out  of  it.  I  feel  I  am  doing  something  for  my  fellow  men,  doing  something 
for  my  children,  and  it  is  profitable  while  I  am  doing  it. 

Mr.  THOMPSON:  Mr.  Meis,  what  interest  have  your  children  shown 
in  your  program  of  fertility? 

Mr.  MEIS:  The  oldest  boy  is  eighteen,  the  next  one  is  sixteen,  the 
next  one  is  fourteen,  and  they  seem  to  be  quite  interested.  Years  ago  when 
they  were  a  little  smaller,  when  they  began  to  see  the  nodules  on  the  clover, 
we  began  to  talk  about  it,  to  plan  to  get  a  carload  of  phosphate,  how  to 
put  it  on  and  they  began  to  show  an  interest. 

Q.  Is  this  a  continual  operation?  I  understand  you  use  a  large  amount; 
do  you  continue  that? 

Mr.  MEIS:  I  don't  know  how  soon  I  will  put  on  more  phosphate. 
This  summer  I  am  going  to  give  limestone  a  thorough  trial.  I  am  going 
to  put  on  as  high  as  4  tons  to  the  acre,  but  I  do  expect  in  another  year  or 
two  to  put  on  some  more  phosphate.  I  had  800  pounds  of  phosphate  per 
acre  to  start  with,  I  have  added  800  pounds  per  acre  which  only  gives  me 
1600  pounds,  and  really  before  I  stop  I  ought  to  get  2200  pounds  on  each 
acre.  I  have  built  up  the  phosphate  content  a  little  faster  than  the  nitrogen 
content,  so  I  am  going  to  put  in  clover  and  legumes  heavier  this  year 
before  I  put  on  more  phosphate. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  corn  that  was  raised  on  this  farm  was  fed 
on  this  farm? 

Mr.  MEIS:  I  only  keep  work  horses  enough  to  handle  the  work,  and 
a  few  cows  to  give  us  our  cream  and  milk.  The  corn  is  practically  all 
sold. 

Q.  Do  you  think  a  heavier  application  of  phosphate  is  more  profitable 
than  a  light  application,  such  as  a  half  a  ton? 

Mr.  MEIS:  I  put  on  a  ton  to  the  acre.  It  depends  on  the  nitrogen 
content  of  the  soil.  If  you  have  a  large  content  of  nitrogen  it  would  be 
more  profitable  to  put  on  a  ton  to  the  acre.  If  your  nitrogen  content  is 
low  I  would  advise  you  to  go  over  your  farm  with  half  a  ton  to  the  acre. 
It  depends  somewhat  on  your  soil. 

Now  let  me  say  this:  There  is  no  need  of  any  of  you  to  go  into  this 
as  a  guessing  proposition.  Go  and  see  your  county  agent;  go  and  see  some 
soil  man.  You  can  get  absolutely  started  right. 

Q.     Are  you  raising  livestock? 

Mr.  MEIS:     No  livestock. 


24 

Q.     Can  you  use  limestone  profitably  without  phosphate? 

Mr.  MEIS:  That  depends  on  conditions.  In  southern  Illinois  their 
first  need  is  limestone,  and  in  this  locality  there  is  perhaps  need  of  lime- 
stone first.  That  is  why  I  say  go  to  your  county  agent.  There  is  no  need  of 
guessing  about  it.  For  southern  Illinois  I  would  say  absolutely  limestone 
first.  I  have  talked  phosphate  here.  I  have  used  phosphate  because  our 
conditions  in  Livingston  county  proves  to  us  that  phosphate  is  more  paying 
right  from  the  start. 

Q.    What  about  this  section? 

Mr.  MEIS:     I  don't  know  about  this  section. 

Q.  Isn't  an  analysis  of  the  soil  a  necessity  in  order  to  do  the  work 
intelligently? 

Mr.  MEIS:  To  a  certain  extent,  yes.  If  you  don't  get  an  analysis 
get  somebody  who  knows  something  about  the  soil.  I  have  never  had  an 
analysis  of  mine,  but  I  have  seen  an  analysis  of  the  farm  next  to  mine. 

Q.     If  you  fed  your  crops  on  the  farm  what  difference  would  it  make? 

Mr.  MEIS:  The  organic  matter  would  give  me  a  large  increase,  be- 
cause I  am  short  of  organic  matter  and  nitrogen.  Three  thousand  pounds 
of  nitrogen  is  very  low.  I  would  have  gotten  more  returns  from  my 
phosphate.  I  haven't  liberated  it  as  fast  as  I  might  have  been  able  if  I  had 
more  legumes  and  organic  matter. 

If  there  are  no  further  questions,  I   thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  There  is  about  a  minute  of  Mr.  Meis'  time  left 
and  I  would  like  to  say  a  word,  if  you  will  pardon  the  intrusion,  on  the 
question  relative  to  the  value  of  the  accumulation  of  phosphorus.  Last 
year  the  difference  in  yield  of  wheat,  where  phosphorus  was  the  limiting 
factor,  where  the  other  things  were  maintained  in  sufficient  quantity,  there 
was  a  difference  of  thirty-three  bushels  of  wheat.  As  near  as  I  can  figure 
it  out  about  fourteen  bushels  came  from  the  fourth  ton  of  phosphorus  which 
was  applied,  about  ten  bushels  from  the  third  ton  which  was  applied, 
about  six  from  the  second  ton  which  was  applied  and  about  three  to 
four  from  the  first  ton  applied  sixteen  years  ago.  That  is  the  way  it 
accumulates.  With  one  ton  applied  you  never  get  beyond  the  first  four- 
teen bushels  increase.  The  first  ton,  the  second  ton  and  the  third  ton 
still  contributes  to  the  increase  in  crop,  which  answers  your  question  as 
to  the  value  of  the  accumulation. 

Now  we  will  have  some  further  word  on  this  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Gougler,  of 
Quincy.  (Applause.) 

PROFITABLE   SOIL  TREATMENT. 
(F.  A.  Gougler.) 

MB.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE  FBIENDS:  We  have  gained  a 
lot  of  information  about  soils  since  our  worthy  investigator  Dr.  Hopkins 
went  into  this  work  not  so  many  years  ago.  I  got  my  first  inspiration  on 
this  subject  when  I  was  not  so  old  in  reading  some  of  those  old  bulletins 
way  back  yonder  relating  to  the  controversy  between  Dr.  Hopkins  and  our 
Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington.  Before  I  even  ever  entered 
an  agricultural  college  I  read  those  discussions  and  they  appealed  to  me 
as  wonderful,  and  really  determined  my  course.  When  I  entered  college  I 
made  up  my  mind  that  my  subject  would  be  soils,  that  that  would  be  my 
hobby,  and  I  believe  it  is  a  pretty  good  hobby. 

Now  what  we  gain  is  the  knowledge  that  Dr.  Hopkins  and  other  investi- 
gators have  worked  out  and  handed  down  to  us  and  such  man  as  you  heard 
this  morning  have  put  that  into  practice.  But  folks,  we  have  got  to  look 
out.  We  have  got  to  be  careful  that  there  is  not  someone  who  upsets  this 
program.  There  are  men  who  are  watching  every  opportunity  and  schem- 
ing every  way  to  bring  that  about.  You  only  need  to  read  some  articles  of 
men  who  are  pretty  shrewd  which  appear  in  some  of  our  farm  papers.  They 
are  misleading,  they  ought  to  be  answered,  and  I  am  glad  some  men  have 


courage  enough  to  answer  them.  I  would  be  glad  to  answer  them  myself 
sometimes  if  I  thought  I  had  the  ability  and  my  answer  would  count. 

I  came  from  Missouri  to  Illinois  and  was  acquainted  with  the  work  over 
there,  and  I  find  such  a  difference  in  the  Missouri  program  compared  with 
the  Illinois  program!  When  1  was  an  adviser  in  Missouri  there  was  hardly 
a  week  that  passed  but  what  some  commercial  fertilizer  shark  came  around 
to  me  and  tried  to  interest  me  in  his  dope.  I  don't  know  whether  they  got 
very  far  with  the  other  farm  advisors  or  not,  but  I  know  they  did  not  with 
me. 

We  did  not  have  the  opportunity  of  putting  over  this  program  as  we 
have  here  in  Illinois,  because  even  our  own  agricultural  college  in  Missouri 
had  never  learned  the  lesson.  I  found  it  quite  different  when  I  came  over 
to  Illinois  in  that  I  wasn't  annoyed  by  these  so-called  fertilizer  agents. 

This  program  of  Dr.  Hopkins  as  it  is  worked  out,  this  simple  formula 
of  maintaining  soil  fertility — limestone,  legumes  and  rock  phosphate — is  so 
simple  that  we  are  willing  to  go  into  it  and  study  a  little  and  put  it  into 
practice,  as  Mr.  Meis  has  done,  and  there  is  no  excuse  nowadays  for  not  put- 
ting these  things  into  practice.  We  have  a  whole  lot  more  information  to- 
day than  we  had  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  and  we  are  getting  more  every 
day. 

Someone  in  the  audience  asks  the  question:  "Is  it  necessary  to  have 
your  soil  analyzed  in  order  to  apply  these  fertilizers  intelligently?"  That 
has  been  done  pretty  nearly  all  over  the  state.  I  don't  know  how  many 
counties  have  had  soil  surveys  made,  but  enough  of  them  have  so  that  if  we 
will  get  hold  of  a  soil  survey  book,  if  it  hasn't  been  made  in  our  own  county 
and  if  we  get  it  to  the  nearest  one  to  our  county  we  get  a  pretty  good  line 
on  our  soil.  You  know,  I  think  that  is  worth  a  world  to  us  in  Illinois,  that 
we  have  that  information,  and  worked  out  in  such  detail  that  we  know  we 
can  go  out  and  look  a  man's  farm  over  and  tell  him,  "Your  farm  is  made 
up  of  so  many  types,  and  this  type  of  soil  has  so  much  phosphorus  per  acre, 
this  soil  has  so  much  limestone,"  as  the  man  told  you.  He  told  you  exactly 
how  many  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  the  first  foot,  how  many  pounds  of  phos- 
phorus and  how  many  pounds  of  each  of  those  you  ought  to  have  in  order 
to  have  a  good,  fertile  soil.  Isn't  that  worth  a  world  to  us?  Our  forefathers 
did  not  have  that  information.  They  did  not  need  it.  They  did  not  need 
it  as  we  need  it,  because  the  soils  were  fertile  and  they  did  not  have  to  worry 
very  much,  but  when  our  sons  take  hold  of  our  farms,  if  we  have  not  fol- 
lowed the  program  as  Mr.  Meis  has  followed  it,  they  have  got  an  up-hill  job. 
With  this  vast  information,  the  more  we  can  know  about  it,  the  more  faith 
we  can  have  in  it,  the  more  interesting  it  is. 

I  can  give  you  examples  this  morning  of  what  Adams  County  farmers 
have  done  in  the  way  of  applying  rock  phosphate  and  limestone  and  the  re- 
sults accomplished,  just  as  Mr.  Meis  has  done,  but  I  will  tell  you  folks,  there 
is  a  whole  lot  more  about  this  that  would  be  well  if  we  knew.  I  believe  thai 
we  ought  to  see  the  importance  of  teaching  our  young  people  these  simple 
problems  of  soil  chemistry.  I  want  to  illustrate  what  I  mean. 

SIMPLE    CHEMICAL    REACTION. 

We  talk  about  liming  the  soil  because  the  soil  is  acid.  We  want  to  know- 
how  to  determine  that.  There  are  several  ways  worked  out  how  to  de 
termine  the  acidity  in  the  soil.  The  old  familiar  method,  the  litmus  paper 
method,  we  all  understand  the  use  of  that  and  know  what  it  means.  We 
know  then  that  if  it  shows  to  be  acid  by  applying  limestone  to  correct  the 
acidity  we  grow  more  crops  I  wonder  how  much  more  we  would  be  inter- 
ested in  this  subject  if  we  knew  the  chemistry  of  it.  I  wonder  if  I  could 
put  it  on  the  board.  I  use  the  illustration  in  my  own  county  when  I  try 
to  put  over  the  limestone  program.  I  usually  perform  a  little  demonstration 
I  usually  have  with  me  a  bottle  of  acid,  a  piece  of  limestone,  a  piece  of  flint, 
or  any  other  rock  that  is  not  limestone.  If  I  take  that  limestone  and  pour 
acid  on  it  you  will  see  it  boil  up,  give  off  fumes.  There  is  a  reaction  there. 
Something  happens. 


26 

Now  then,  what  happens?  Limestone  is  a  chemical  product,  it  is  made 
up  of  elements.  Now,  elements  are  simple  things.  We  do  not  always  under- 
stand what  elements  are;  we  do  not  always  understand  what  compounds  are, 
but  it  would  be  worth  a  whole  lot  to  farmers  and  farmers'  boys  if  they  did 
understand  these  things.  They  would  be  more  interested  in  the  work  they 
are  doing,  because  they  can  see  what  is  going  on.  Just  like  we  go  on  and 
plant  corn,  cultivate  it  and  finally  produce  an  ear  of  corn.  A  whole  lot  of 
things  happen  there  that  we  did  not  think  about.  A  great  many  chemical 
changes  take  place.  If  we  had  an  understanding  of  them  there  would  be  a 
whole  lot  more  interest  in  the  work  we  are  trying  to  do. 

I  want  to  illustrate  that  by  this  little  simple  reaction.  I  am  going  to 
put  a  piece  of  limestone  here  on  the  board  in  a  different  form  probably  than 
many  of  you  have  ever  seen  before.  It  is  written  by  the  chemist  in  this 
way:  CaCOa.  When  1.  see  that  I  can't  think  of  anything  else  but  lime- 
stone. Just  the  same  as  if  I  write  the  word  "Limestone".  When  you  see 
that  you  don't  need  to  see  the  rock,  do  you?  There  it  is.  That  word  tells 
you  that  is  limestone.  This  formula  means  the  same  to  the  chemist.  That 
is  limestone  in  its  pure  state.  It  is  made  up  of  three  elements — calcium, 
carbon  and  oxygen. 

Now  what  is  an  element?  This  thing  as  it  stands  we  call  a  compound. 
Just  briefly  let  us  define  an  element.  There  are  certain  elements  that  exist 
as  elements  alone.  Sulphur  is  an  element.  No  matter  where  we  get  hold 
of  a  piece  of  sulphur  it  is  sulphur  and  nothing  else.  Nothing  else  is  com- 
bined with  it.  Carbon  is  an  element  represented  by  "C".  A  good  example 
of  carbon  is  charcoal.  Now  when  I  was  a  boy  we  used  to  take  sulphur.  I 


Showing  how  the  terraces  are  started  by  back-furrowing  two  rounds. 
Note   the   smooth   curves. 

—  (Courtesy  Missouri  Experiment  Station) 

don't  believe  we  practice  those  home  remedies  so  much  as  we  used  to.  1 
asked  an  audience  some  while  back  what  we  used  sulphur  for  and  somebody 
said,  "We  would  use  it  if  we  had  the  itch."  I  don't  know  whether  I  had 
the  itch.  Mother  made  us  take  it.  She  did  not  know  why,  but  she  made 
us  take  it.  It  was  supposed  to  do  us  good.  How  about  charcoal?  That  is 
supposed  to  be  pretty  good  for  a  sour  stomach,  isn't  it? 

Now  look  here  at  this  interesting  thing  that  happens.  You  can  take 
those  two  elements,  mix  them  together,  take  them  internally  and  it  doesn't 
hurt  you,  but  you  take  the  two  simple  elements,  sulphur  and  carbon,  mix 
them  together  in  the  right  proportions  and  apply  heat  which  will  finally 
dissolve  them  and  form  a  liquid  and  you  will  produce  a  product  that  is 
poisonous— carbon-bisulphite.  A  poison  we  use  to  put  in  our  wheat  bins 
to  kill  weevil.  You  see  how  simple  chemistry  really  is. 


27 

Here  is  limestone.  We  are  going  to  put  that  on  a  soil  that  is  acid. 
Now,  let's  see.  Limestone  plus  acid,  we  will  take  hydrochloric  acid,  2HCL. 
It  happens  in  chemistry  that  it  takes  two  pounds  of  HCL  to  react  with  one 
pound  of  CaCOs,  so  we  write  "2"  before  the  HCL.  Chemical  action  is  just 
like  simple  arithmetic,  if  we  don't  get  too  deep  into  chemistry. 

I  will  write  another  equation.  Two  plus  two  plus  four  equals  what? 
Any  child  will  tell  us  it  will  equal  eight, — or  it  will  equal  four  plus  four. 
Anybody  can  understand  that.  A  chemical  equation  is  just  exactly  the  same 
thing.  We  bring  these  two  things  together.  They  unite.  This  calcium 
hooks  on  to  that  chlorine  and  forms  CaCl2,  plus  this  carbon,  this  oxygen, 
hooked  up  with  that  and  forms  H2CO3,  which  is  another  acid;  by  bringing 
the  three  things  together  the  limestone  and  acid  unite  and  form  a  salt  that 
is  harmless  to  the  soil,  another  acid  that  is  a  weak  acid,  that  can't  exist  as 
such,  and  this  acid  breaks  up  into  H2O  (water)  plus  C02  (carbondioxid). 
The  water  remains  in  the  soil  without  harm,  and  the  CO2  passes  into  the  air 
in  the  form  of  a  gas.  No  matter  what  kind  of  acid  is  in  the  soil  that  re- 
action takes  place  and  produces  a  salt  that  doesn't  do  our  soil  any  harm. 
That  salt  is  closely  related  to  another  salt  that  you  use  every  day,  NaCl. 

Now  I  wonder  if  I  have  gotten  into  too  deep  water,  but  that  is  all  there 
is  to  putting  lime  on  your  soil.  What  I  am  getting  at,  friends,  is  this:  if 
you  have  a  boy  that  is  interested  in  farming,  like  Mr.  Meis'  boys,  if  he  under- 
stood this  simple  thing  wouldn't  it  mean  more  to  him  when  he  limes  his  soil, 
if  he  knows  just  what  happens,  than  if  all  he  would  know  is  "I  am  putting 
lime  on  here  just  because  Smith  says  so"? 

That  is  as  far  as  I  am  going  into  chemistry  in  these  problems  that  we 
consider  complex  and  it  just  depends  on  how  deep  we  go.  Mr.  Mann  can 
go  into  the  problem  of  phosphorus  and  he  can  put  equations  on  the  board 
that  none  of  us  can  translate  because  he  has  gone  into  the  subject  not  only 
from  the  practical  standpoint  but  from  the  chemist's  standpoint.  However, 
we  don't  all  need  to  go  into  the  subject  that  deeply.  We  do  not  all  need 
to  know  it  as  the  chemist  knows  it.  I  am  giving  you  this  more  for  your 
boys.  If  you  have  got  a  boy  give  him  a  little  simple  chemistry. 

LAND   TERRACING   SAVES   WASHING. 

There  is  one  more  hobby  that  I  want  to  present.     I  take  it  that  this 


View  of  terraces  after  a  rain  showing  how  they  catch  the  soil  and 
also  how  they  check  the  flow  of  water  down  the  slope  and  carry  it  around 
the  hill. 

—  (Courtesy  Missouri  Experiment  Station) 


28 


crowd  represents  a  pretty  good  territory  in  Illinois.  I  came  from  Burling- 
ton over  here  this  morning  and  I  noticed  I  came  over  pretty  level  country. 
It  occurred  to  me  that  maybe  my  talk  won't  fit  in  Warren  County,  but  I 
take  it  that  many  of  you  are  from  other  counties,  and  perhaps  many  of  you 
do  have  more  or  less  rough  land,  and  if  you  have  a  simple  little  operation 
will  save  what  you  have. 

If  you  have  land  that  slopes,  that  is  inclined  to  wash,  there  is  a 
simple  little  operation  that  you  can  perform  that  won't  cost  much,  that  will 
beat  your  old  method  of  going  out  after  such  rains  as  we  have  had  lately 
and  filling  the  gullies  full  of  straw  and  hedge  brush.  Why  didn't  we  think 
of  that  years  ago?  It  is  nothing  in  the  world  but  terracing  land  that  is 
inclined  to  wash.  I  did  quite  a  bit  of  terracing  in  Missouri,  in  the  county 
where  I  served  four  years  as  Farm  Adviser,  and  this  last  fall  did  some  of 
the  first  terracing  that  was  done  in  Adams  County.  We  have  terraced  prob- 
ably half  a  dozen  farms  in  Adams  County,  in  different  parts  of  the  county. 

Now  what  is  terracing  and  where  can  we  apply  it?  It  can  be  used  on 
any  sloping  land  that  we  intend  to  farm,  or  have  in  grass,  as  far  as  that 
goes,  but  especially  land  rotated  from  crops  to  grass  that  is  inclined 
to  wash.  I  think  I  can  illustrate  it  by  putting  a  diagram  on  the  board  of 
a  forty  acre  field,  we  will  say,  that  is  rather  rough.  There  is  a  kind  of 
ravine  that  comes  through  it  like  this  (illustrating  on  board).  That  is  a 
picture  that  I  want  you  to  get.  There  is  a  slope  here  of  ten  feet  in  a  hun- 
dred, or  fifteen  feet  in  a  hundred.  That  is  the  way  this  land  slopes.  When- 


Constructing  a  terrace  with  a  small  road  grader. 

—  (Courtesy   Missouri   Experiment   Station) 

ever  we  have  a  heavy  rain  it  is  inclined  to  wash,  especially  like  the  rain  we 
had  here  night  before  last.  I  don't  know  whether  you  had  it  here,  but  we 
had  it  in  Quincy  night  before  last.  At  a  meeting  last  night  some  men  were 
talking  to  me  and  said,  "Gracious,  that  rain  did  damage  plowed  fields." 
Here  are  these  gullies.  We  can  imagine  they  are  gullies.  As  soon  as  it  is 
dry  enough  for  the  farmer  to  get  out  there  and  fix  it  he  will  put  some  straw 
in  here  and  here  and  here  (indicating).  I  had  a  man  tell  me  the  other  day, 
"By  golly,  I  ran  out  of  hedge  brush.  I  don't  know  what  to  do  now,  unless 
I  try  your  scheme."  It  is  not  my  scheme.  It  is  as  old  as  the  hills  in  the 
south  where  they  grow  cotton,  with  nothing  in  the  ground  to  hold  it  from 
washing, 


Terracing  will  do  it.  It  is  a  simple  little  operation.  This  is  your  farm, 
you  want  to  terrace  it.  I  would  come  out  with  a  simple  level  that  costs 
about  twenty  dollars,  that  every  farm  bureau  ought  to  have  so  that  farm- 
ers can  get  it  to  determine  levels  for  buildings,  terraces,  etc.  We  go  out 
there  and  look  over  the  forty.  Now  the  first  thing  we  need  to  determine  is 
where  are  we  going  to  put  the  water?  Its  natural  course  is  over  here  (in- 
dicating), and  if  it  goes  there  it  is  going  to  go  pretty  rapidly,  because  the 
land  slopes  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  to  the  hundred,  and  having  that  slope  a 
two  or  three  or  four  inch  rain  has  a  tremendous  power  to  carry  dirt, — 
not  only  the  dirt,  but  the  plant  food  and  organic  matter  from  the  entire 
surface. 

We  go  out  there  and  the  first  thing  we  need  to  determine  is  where  we 
are  going  to  put  the  water.  We  can  put  it  over  here  or  there  in  this  par- 
ticular field.  We  have  two  ways  to  get  rid  of  that  water.  All  right,  we 
will  start  up  on  the  hillside,  and  with  our  level  we  will  start  at  a  point 
right  here  (indicating),  and  we  are  going  to  run  a  line  that  falls  six  inches 
in  a  hundred  feet.  We  are  going  to  decide  to  draw  the  water  off  at  this 
side,  wherever  the  line  goes.  It  runs  right  here  (indicating),  not  very 
straight.  It  will  curve  around.  It  depends  on  how  much  it  is  cut  up  by 
the  gullies.  If  there  is  .a  roadside  of  course  the  water  will  follow  along  the 
roadside  and  cut  a  pretty  big  ditch  on  this  side  of  the  road. 

Then  the  next  thing  we  drop  down  the  hillside  three  to  five  feet  lower 
than  that  point  and  we  run  another  line  here  (indicating),  and  it  goes  out 
there.  Then  we  start  down  here  another  five  feet  lower  than  that,  and  here 


Constructing  a  terrace  with  a  V-shaped  drag 

— (Courtesy   Missouri   Experiment   Station) 

we  run  another  line.  You  see  I  am  just  guessing  where  this  line  will  run. 
Now  after  we  have  run  those  lines  in  that  manner,  while  we  are  doing  that, 
you  and  I  will  have  the  farm  hand  come  out  with  a  team  and  p'ow 
These  stakes  are  set  every  fifty  feet.  That  fall  is  six  inches  in  a  hundred 
feet  and  he  plows  there  just  like  he  was  going  to  start  a  land.  The  next 
thing  is  to  build  a  ridge  there.  In  that  way  all  the  water  that  falls  above 
runs  down  to  this  terrace  and  on  out. 


30 

Now  after  you  have  built  them  you  can  plow  over  them  just  like  they 
were  not  there.  Just  plow  back  and  forth.  The  only  thing  you  need  to  do, 
probably  every  couple  of  years,  is  to  take  a  grader  or  a  drag  and  drag  them 
up.  You  all  know  how  long  an  old  back  furrow  that  you  have  thrown  up 
a  couple  of  times  in  the  same  place  lasts.  You  know  how  much  longer  a 
ridge  through  there  like  a  roadgrade  lasts. 

Now  let  me  give  you  one  figure  that  will  help  you  to  understand  the 
value  of  that  and  then  I  am  through.  If  we  have  a  slope  on  a  piece  of  land 
of  ten  feet  in  a  hundred,  when  we  have  a  four  inch  rain  that  four  inch  rain 
has  the  power  to  carry  a  given  amount  of  dirt,  depending  on  organic  matter 
there  to  hold  it.  If  it  is  bare  a  four  inch  rain  on  that  slope  will  carry  a 
given  amount  of  dirt.  Let  us  say  it  will  take  a  pound  of  dirt  and  organic 
matter  off  a  square  rod,  for  illustration,  with  a  slope  of  ten  feet  in  a  hun- 
dred. Now  then,  if  we  double  the  slope  to  twenty  feet  in  a  hundred  we  in- 
crease the  power  of  the  same  amount  of  rainfall  to  carry  the  dirt,  don't  we, 
because  it  slopes  more?  How  much  more  do  you  suppose  we  increase  it? 
You  have  been  following  it  pretty  closely.  How  much  do  you  suppose? 

Q.     Fifty  times. 

Mr.  GOUGLER:     Pretty  good.     Does  anybody  else  want  to  guess? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     About  the  thirteenth  power. 

Mr.  GOUGLER:  Let  us  get  it  in  his  terms.  He  says  the  thirteenth 
power.  That  is  getting  into  deep  arithmetic. 

Q.     That  is  beyond  me,  the  thirteenth  power. 

Mr.  GOUGLER:  If  we  double  the  velocity  of  the  water  we  increase  the 
wearing  or  carrying  power  of  the  water  sixty-four  times.  If  we  double  the 
velocity  we  increase  the  power  to  wash  sixty-four  times.  All  right,  now 
let  us  reverse  the  thing.  Say  this  field  is  a  field  that  slopes  ten  feet  in  a 
hundred  and  we  are  going  to  make  the  water  fall  six  inches  in  a  hundred. 
Can  you  imagine  how  much  that  will  decrease  the  power  of  the  water  to 
carry  dirt?  Men,  it  is  not  only  the  gulley  that  washes,  that  is  your  loss 
That  is  what  you  see.  You  do  not  see  what  is  going  off  the  who'e  surface, 
do  you? 

I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  more  we  study  soil  the  closer  the  relation 
is  realized  between  soils  and  animal  nutrition,  the  more  we  see  the  value  of 
the  things  in  the  soil  that  must  be  used  in  animal  and  human  nutrition,  and 
hence  limestone.  Bacteria  love  sweet  things  and  the  fungi,  molds  and  mill- 
dews  love  sour  things.  It  is  the  sweet  things  we  want,  that  is  one  reason  we 
use  limestone. 

Another  use  for  limestone  is  that  plants  must  have  it  to  construct  their 
own  selves,  and  hence  animals  must  have  it  to  construct  themselves.  Another 
thing  we  use  limestone  for  is  to  preserve  not  only  the  proper  reactions  in 
the  soil,  but  to  preserve  the  proper  reactions  in  the  animals  and  plants. 
They  resist  the  molds  and  mildews  a  good  deal  by  having  sweet  clovers, 
then  they  resist  the  bacteria  a  good  deal  by  having  sour  stomachs,  and  we 
must  maintain  the  reatcions  in  the  animal  body.  We  must  also  maintain 
certain  reactions  in  the  plants  themselves.  Parts  of  the  plants  are  sour  and 
parts  of  them  are  sweet,  and  the  plants  must  have  limestone  to  preserve 
their  proper  reactions.  Then  we  have  the  physical  results  from  limestone. 
We  want  a  soil  that  is  open,  porous  and  loose.  As  we  go  along  we  can 
just  grasp  a  few  of.  the  great  values  which  come  from  limestone,  and  being 
basic  to  agriculture  it  means  that  we  must  know  more  about  our  supplies 
and  the  quality  of  the  limestone  that  we  have  to  deal  with. 

Now  the  first  special  committee  that  was  appointed  by  the  Illinois  Agri- 
cultural Association,  which  is  a  business  organization,  was  a  committee  whose 
business  it  was  to  see  that  the  farmers  of  the  state  could  get  limestone  and 
phosphate,  and  we  are  glad  to  have  at  this  meeting  Mr.  Bent,  who  is  di- 
rector of  that  department,  to  tell  us  something  about  the  limestone  deposits 
in  the  state,  their  quality,  their  extensiveness  and  all  those  things.  Mr.  Bent 
will  now  talk  to  us.  [Applause.] 


LIMESTONE   SUPPLIES   FOR   ILLINOIS. 


J.   R.   Bent 


(J.  R.  Bent.) 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FRIENDS:  Agriculture  is  one  of  the  oldest,  if  not  the 
oldest,  industry.  As  an  art,  it  is  very  old.  As  a  science,  it  is  comparatively 
new.  These  are  basic  facts  with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  Under  agricul- 
ture as  an  art,  some  form  of  lime  has  been  ap- 
plied to  the  soil  as  a  beneficial  conditioner  for 
generations,  but  scientific  knowledge  covering 
its  action,  the  reason  for  the  results,  and  the 
best  form  and  way  in  which  it  should  be  applied 
is  comparatively  new,  and  we  are  told  that 
there  is  even  yet  much  to  be  learned.  The  burn- 
ing of  lump  limestone,  in  order  to  make  caustic 
lime,  is  an  industry  that  has  been  practiced  for 
centuries.  Not  only  has  such  lime  been  used 
for  construction  purposes  and  in  the  arts  and 
sciences,  but,  in  the  past  and  in  the  older 
agricultural  regions,  it  has  been  the  prevailing, 
if  not  the  exclusive,  form  in  which  calcium 
has  been  applied  to  the  soil  and  an  alkaline 
condition  maintained.  It  would  be  a  mistake, 
I  think,  to  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  this  is 
a  practical  demonstration  or  proof  of  its  su- 
periority over  raw  limestone  for  soil  treat- 
ment purposes.  The  real  reason  for  the  fact 
that  raw  limestone  has  been  used  in  recent 
years  only  and  that  even  yet  the  practice  has 
not  been  generally  adopted,  lies  in  the  further 
fact  that  the  mechanical  equipment  and  industrial  means  under  which  stone 
can  be  economically  reduced  to  fine  sizes  are  developments  which  have  taken 
place  within  the  recollection  of  the  present  older  generation. 

The  manufacture  and  use  of  explosives  are  not  new,  but  the  possibili- 
ties and  effectiveness  of  explosives  in  the  quarrying  industry  were  decidedly 
limited  until  the  advent  in  recent  years  of  the  power  driven  drill.  Quickly 
following  this  development  came  also  the  invention  and  development  of  first 
the  power  crusher,  then  pulverizing  and  milling  machinery.  It  is  therefore 
only  in  recent  years  that  it  has  been  possible,  within  a  reasonable  cost,  to 
prepare  raw  limestone  or  reduce  it  to  a  degree  of  fineness  suitable  for  ap- 
plication to  the  soil.  Prior  to  that  time,  the  only  form  in  which  the  non- 
caustic  or  carbonate  form  of  lime  could  be  applied  was  as  chalk,  marl,  or 
air  slaked  lime,  and  the  available  supplies  of  these  were  too  limited  in 
quantity  and  distribution  to  constitute  much  of  a  factor  in  comparison  with 
the  need.  . 

One  of  the  brightest  spots  in  the  history  of  scientific  agriculture,  and 
a  fact  of  which  every  true  Illinois  citizen  should  be  proud  is  the  advent 
of  Dr.  Hopkins  and  his  revolutionary  discoveries  and  doctrines  so  quickly 
following  these  great  developments  in  the  quarrying  industry.  These  facts 
made  Illinois  a  pioneer  and  leader.  It  is  up  to  the  Illinois  farmer  to  see  that 
this  proud  position  of  his  state  is  maintained. 

There  is  an  old  saying  that  youth  must  learn  by  experience  as  it  will 
not  profit  by  the  experience  of  the  past  generations.  This  principle  has 
seemed  to  hold  literally  good  in  its  application  to  agricultural  regions. 
As  a  rule,  the  older  agricultural  regions  are  either  entirely  abandoned  or 
the  methods  that  are  adopted  are  conservative  and  have  due  regard  to 
established  scientific  facts — particularly  as  they  have  reference  to  the  main- 
tenance of  soil  fertility  and  productivity;  but  the  newer  regions  are  prone 
to  ignore  problems  of  soil  fertility.  Attention  has  frequently  been  called 
by  different  writers  and  speakers  to  the  fact  that,  if  you  start  on  the  At- 
lantic coast  and  go  West,  as  you  step  from  state  to  state  until  you  finally  ar- 
rive in  Iowa,  the  yield  per  acre  increases.  The  reason  for  this  fact  is  not  that 


32 

the  soil  was  originally  better  as  you  go  West,  but  that  it  is  newer  and  has 
not  been  so  extensively  robbed.  President  Kinley  of  our  State  University 
recently  called  an  agricultural  conference,  one  of  the  prime  reasons  for  which 
lay  in  the  fact  that  Illinois  is  today  face  to  face  with  diminishing  agricul- 
tural returns.  Just  recently,  a  professional  agricultural  authority  from  one 
of  our  northwestern  states  remarked  to  me  that  his  state  would  never  need 
limestone  as  its  soil  is  all  sweet.  It  seems  that  we  are  determined  to  each 
prove  for  himself,  that  soil  alkalinity  under  cropping  conditions  is  not  a 
self-maintaining  or  a  permanent  condition. 

The  University  of  Illinois,  Experiment  Station,  the  Illinois  Farmers' 
Institute,  and  the  Farm  Advisors  have  each,  in  turn  and  in  different  ways, 
effectively  preached  the  gospel  of  soil  fertility  and,  as  a  factor  thereof,  t"he 
use  of  limestone.  The  various  leading  railroads  and  the  limestone  produc3rs 
have  played  their  parts  in  bringing  into  practice  the  teachings  and  doctrines 
promulgated  by  these  educational  agencies.  With  the  development  of  these 
agencies  and  with  the  stimulating  effect  of  high  prices  and  demand  for  maxi- 
mum crop  production  during  and  just  after  the  war,  the  growth  in  the  use 
of  limestone,  as  compared  with  the  past,  was  remarkably  rapid  and  great, 
but,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  real  need,  it  has  been  insignificant. 

LIMESTONE    NEEDS    IN    ILLINOIS. 

Dr.  Bauer  of  the  State  University  says  that  there  are  twenty  million 
acres  of  sour  land  in  Illinois;  that  in  the  southern  thirty-two  counties  alone 
there  are  ten  million  acres  which  are  so  sour  that  they  are  fairly  crying  for 
an  initial  application  of  five  tons  of  limestone  per  acre,  or  fifty  million  tons; 
and  that  thereafter  they  should  receive  upkeep  applications  aggregating  sev- 
eral million  tons  annually.  As  compared  with  these  figures  we  have  actually 
used  for  the  entire  state  as  follows: 

Tons. 

1911    32,000 

1912 46,000 

1913    72,000 

1914  (Estimated)    82,000 

1915    94,000 

1916  (Estimated)    113,000 

1917  (Estimated)    132,000 

1918    200,000 

1919    350,000 

In  the  latter  part  of  1920,  the  demand  rapidly  fell  off.  That  year  shows 
a  total  of  300,000  tons  (50,000  tons  less  than  the  previous  year)  ;  and  last 
year  is  estimated  at  not  to  exceed  140,000  to  150,000  tons— considerably  less 
than  half  of  our  high  point.  Obviously,  something  is  the  matter  either  with 
our  doctrine  or  with  our  practice,  whatever  the  cause  may  be.  Perhaps 
the  outstanding  reasons  for  the  serious  curtailment  of  demand  during  the 
last  year  and  a  half  are;  first,  the  disastrously  low  prices  at  which  farm 
products  have  sold  in  comparison  with  other  commodities  and  the  resultant 
financial  inability  of  the  farmer;  second,  the  fact  that  as  compared  with 
former  years,  the  quarry  prices  mounted  to  a  hifh  point  in  rseponse  to  the 
rapidly  developing  demand;  third,  the  heavy  advances  in  freight  rates. 

The  first  of  these,  low  farm  prices,  is  now  the  subject  of  my  remarks 
today.  We  may  pass  it  with  the  expressed  hope  that  the  present  tendency 
back  in  the  right  direction  may  be  accelerated  and  the  day  hastened  when 
this  unfortunate  condition  shall  have  been  righted. 

PORTAHLK    CRUSHING    PLANTS. 

During  the  last  two  years  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  interest  dis- 
played in  the  possibility  of  the  rather  widespread  and  general 
establishment  of  what  may  be  termed  local  portable  crushing  outfits,  each 
of  which  might  serve  a  community,  the  area  of  which  would  be  determined 
by  the  natural  hauling  radius.  Many  have  conceived  the  idea  that  such' 


83 

plants  located  at  points  where  deposits  of  limestone  upon  which  they  may 
operate  exist  would  at  once  solve  the  difficulty  of  high  quarry  prices  and 
high  freight  rates,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  such  plants  cannot  operate  as 
efficiently  as  the  large  well-equipped  permanently  located  commercial  ship- 
ping plants.  The  tonnage  life  per  dollar  of  investment — in  other  words, 
the  depreciation  factor  per  ton,  and  the  tonnage  output  per  hour  relative 
to  investment,  the  power  factor  and  the  labor  factor,  all  are  expensively 
inefficient  when  compared  with  the  well  organized  and  equipped  large  and 
permanent  shipping  plant.  The  portable  plant  is  a  "Rear  Trench"  and  is 
indicated  as  a  choice  if  and  only  to  the  extent  that  the  available  supply 
from  commercial  sources  involves  exorbitant  quarry  prices,  extra  long  and 
expensive  freight  shipments  or  excessively  long  wagon  hauls  from  the 
nearest  local  railroad  station  at  which  the  cars  are  unloaded.  Perhaps 
the  most  potent  and  determining  of  these  considerations  is  the  latter. 
We  have  some  communities  which  are  ten  to  fifteen  miles,  or  even  farther, 
from  the  railroad  station,  and  fortunately  in  the  case  of  some  of  these 
communities,  they  have  local  and  easily  available  deposits  of  limestone 
of  a  satisfactory  quality.  A  portable  plant  for  these  communities  is  the 
only  salvation,  but  the  probability  is  that  the  pulverized  stone  turned  out 
by  the  portable  plant  in  these  cases  will  cost  more  at  the  plant  than  the 
f.  o.  b.  delivery  station  price,  throughout  the  state  as  a  whole,  of  stone 
from  commercial  sources. 

.  This  department  has  examined,  studied  and  advised  on  the  possibility 
of  establishing  portable  plants  at  181  sites  in  35  counties,  and  we  found 
a  large  majority  of  these  places  were  located  so  close  to  a  railroad  station 
that  an  enterprise  of  this  kind  would  not  have  succeeded  because  of  its 
inability  to  compete  with  a  shipped-in  supply.  I  am  touching  upon  only 
a  few  of  the  outstanding  considerations  in  connection  with  such  problems. 
The  questions  of  the  quality  of  the  stone,  of  its  quarryability,  of  its  acces- 
sibility to  the  highway,  of  its  availability  by  purchase  or  royalty  arrange- 
ment, of  the  ability  to  satisfactorily  manage  and  man  the  work  with  local 
talent  and  keep  the  outfit  reasonably  and  efficiently  busy,  are  all  very 
vital  factors. 

We  have  in  Illinois  more  commercial  quarries  and  shipping  plants 
than  perhaps  the  average  layman  realizes.  Some  of  these  represent  very 
large  investments  and  output  ability.  In  general,  we  may  say  that  there 
are  two  main  producing  districts.  First,  the  northeastern  or  general  Chi- 
cago district  producers,  which  are  operating  in  the  extensive  dolometic 
limestone  known  as  the  Niagara  deposit.  Some  of  the  points  in  this  dist- 
rict at  which  plants  are  located  are  Kankakee,  Thornton,  Gary,  McCook, 
Elmhurst  and  Joliet.  The  second  largest  group  is  that  of  the  East  St.  Louis 
district.  This  stone  differs  from  that  of  the  Chicago  district  in  that  it  is, 
as  a  rule,  more  crystaline,  higher  in  calcium  and  lower  in  magnesium. 
In  saying  this,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood  as  attempting  in  this  con- 
nection to  place  either  of  these  stones  above  the  other  in  its  value  for 
soil  treatment  purposes.  Both  are  good  and  are  needed.  There  are  other 
individual  locations.  Without  mentioning  all,  I  will  mention  as  more  or 
less  prominent  the  state  plant  in  connection  with  the  penitentiary  at  Ches- 
ter, and  the  commercial  plants  located  at  Whitehill  in  the  extreme  southern 
part  of  the  state  and  at  Alton,  Marblehead  and  Gladstone  all  along  the 
western  side  of  the  state,  and  at  Rockford  on  the  north  edge.  Also,  we 
have  just  over  the  line  in  other  states  and  supplying  Illinois  with  more 
or  less  tonnage,  plants  located  at  Buffalo,  Linwood  and  Bettendorf,  Iowa, 
and  Mitchell  and  Greencastle,  Indiana. 

FOBMS   OF  LIMESTONE. 

The  forms  in  which  raw  limestone  is  produced  for  direct  application 
to  the  soil  may  be  divided  into  three  main  classes.  First,  by-product 
screenings.  Second,  directly  pulverized  material.  Third,  ground  stone. 
Ground  stone  is  not  a  real  factor  in  Illinois.  It  is  stone  that  has  been 


34 

ground  to  the  fineness  of  flour  and  is,  therefore,  much  more  expensive. 
It  is  used  somewhat  extensively  in  some  of  the  eastern  states  where  the 
farming  practices  are  more  intensive,  but  the  Illinois  theory  is  that  the 
coarser  material  used  in  larger  quantity  at  the  same  total  cost,  will  supply 
somewhere  near  the  same  amount  of  fines  for  immediate  availability  and 
will  leave  the  coarser  particles  to  gradually  disintegrate  and  dissolve  and 
thereby  furnish  a  "maintenance"  ration  over  a  longer  period  of  time. 

What  I  referred  to  first  ..as  screenings,  or  what  is  sometimes  called 
"Limestone  Dust,"  is  a  by-product  from  the  prime  product  of  crushed  stone. 
In  reducing  by  crushing  and  in  sizing  by  screening,  the  stone  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  building  trade  as  a  concrete  aggregate  and  of  the 
highway  authorities  for  concrete  and  macadam  roads  and  of  the  railroads 
for  ballast,  it  is  necessary  to  eliminate  by  revolving  screens  all  material 
which  runs  one-quarter  inch  or  less  in  size.  Naturally,  this  eliminated 
material  varies  in  the  proportion  which  it  carries  of  the  finer  dust  to  the 
coarser  particles.  This  proportion  is  affected  by  such  factors  as  the  physi- 
cal structure  of  the  stone  and  the  mechanical  means  used  in  its  reduction. 
In  some  states,  especially  where  the  stone  is  relatively  hard,  some  of  this 
material  is  used  as  a  top  course  for  macadam  roads,  but  generally  speaking 
that  is  not  the  case  in  Illinois.  A  limited  amount  is  used  for  railroad 
station  yards  and  paths.  Some  of  the  fine  powder  is  used  as  a  filler  in 
cheap  fertilizers,  but  much  the  greater  percentage  of  this  by-product  must 
be  sold,  just  as  it  comes  from  the  screen,  for  direct  application  to  the 
soil.  As  a  by-product,  it  has  been  subject  to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand 
as  applied  to  by-products  and  its  selling  price  has  been  determined  solely 
by  this  law,  without  regard  to  a  ratable  portion  of  the  cost  of  production. 
The  price  of  by-products  is  prone  to  move  in  the  contrary  direction  to 
the  demand  for  and  the  price  of  the  prime  products  from  which  they 
come.  When  the  demand  for  a  certain  prime  product  is  great  and  the 
price  thereof  mounts  in  consequence,  there  follows  an  increased  production, 
carrying  with  it  an  increase  in  production  of  the  by-product,  regardless 
of  the  demand  for  the  latter  and  if  the  demand  for  the  by-product  does 
not  simultaneously  increase,  at  least  in  proportion,  there  follows  a  drop 
in  the  by-product's  price.  The  two  prices  thus  moving  away  from  each 
other  instead  of  in  the  same  direction. 

Throughout  the  early  years  during  which  the  use  of  limestone  was  being 
advocated  by  the  authorities  and  tried  out  by  the  farmers,  the  demand  was 
less  than  the  unavoidable  by-product  supply.  Under  these  conditions,  it  was 
natural  that  many  producers  were  willing  to  accept  most  any  price  that 
would  enable  them  to  dispose  of  their  output,  and  the  consideration  of  an 
equitable  share  of  the  total  cost  of  production  was  not  a  factor.  Taking 
the  state  as  a  whole,  it  was  not,  perhaps,  until  1918  or  1919  that  the  demand 
for  agricultural  stone  overtook  and  passed  the  production  of  by-product 
screenings  and  it  became  necessary  in  order  to  meet  the  demand  to  resort 
to  the  use  of  pulverizing  machinery  for  the  further  reduction  of  sizes  of 
stone  already  marketable,  as  railroad  ballast,  concrete  aggregate  and  road 
stone;  in  other  words,  to  resort  to  what  I  have  referred  to  as  the  second 
class  of  agricultural  limestone,  i.  e.;  directly  pulverized  material.  This 
meant  that  agricultural  stone  there  and  then  passed  from  the  realm  of  a 
by-product  into  the  realm  of  a  prime  product  and  the  price  instead  of  being 
controlled  by  the  consideration  of  moving  a  material  that  was  in  the  way, 
was  controlled  by  the  consideration  of  the  cost  of  production,  plus  a  profit. 

Obviously,  the  cost  of  producing  agricultural  stone,  if  it  involves  a  fur- 
ther processing  of  marketable  commercial  stone,  is  to  that  extent  greater 
than  the  cost  of  producing  the  commercial  stone.  Certain  mischevious  fac- 
tors crept  in  at  this  point.  First,  it  is  not  surprising,  though  it  was  un- 
fortunate, that  the  price  of  the  relatively  small  tonnage  of  directly  pul- 
verized material  increased  and  controlled  the  price  of  the  relatively  large 
tonnage  of  the  by-product  material.  Second,  the  increased  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing demand,  which  made  direct  production  necessary,  encouraged, 
whether  or  not  it  justified,  the  producers  in  decidedly  marking  up  their 


35 

prices  and  margins  of  profit.  True  to  the  rule  that  one  extreme  Induces 
the  opposite,  a  revulsion  set  in.  The  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  farmers 
that  something  was  wrong  and  that  they  were  being  held  up  remained  in 
the  background  as  long  as  the  price  of  farm  products  remained  high  and 
limestone  seemed  a  good  investment  at  any  price,  but  when,  in  the  late 
summer  and  fall  of  1920,  the  price  of  farm  products  began  to  rapidly  fall 
and  at  about  the  same  time  the  heavy  general  advance  in  freight  rates  took 
place,  the  agricultural  limestone  situation  became  impossible  and  broke. 
Farmers  quit  buying.  Direct  pulverization  was  discontinued.  Byproduct 
screenings  began  to  accumulate  at  the  plants  of  producers.  The  producers 
themselves  were  reluctant  to  believe  that  the  situation  could  last  and  it  was 
not  until  well  along  in  1921  that  they  began  to  realize  the  full  seriousness 
of  the  situation  and  a  number  of  them  made  big  reductions  in  their  prices. 
Not  yet,  has  the  demand  been  restored  and  a  number  of  the  factors  in  the 
situation  must  be  relieved  before  it  can  be.  Of  course,  a  most  potent  and 
vital  factor  is  the  farmer's  financial  inability  to  buy  and  the  righting  of 
the  present  distressful  situation  in  this  respect  lies,  of  course,  outside  of 
the  limestone  problem  and  is  not  the  subject  of  this  discussion. 

GOVEBNING    FACTORS    IN    LIMESTONE    SUPPLY. 

In  studying  the  problem  of  a  satisfactory  and  adequate  limestone  supply 
for  the  future,  let  us  eliminate  the  present  unfortunate  financial  condition 
of  the  farmer,  which  we  hope  is  but  temporary,  and  confine  our  consider- 
ation to  those  factors  which,  under  normal  times,  of  necessity  must  control 
if  the  production  of,  traffic  in,  and  use  of  agricultural  limestone  are  to  be 
stabilized  and  developed  as  they  should  be.  As  I  see  it,  these  are: 

First,  efficient  and  adequate  production; 

Second,  reasonable  profit  to  the  producer; 

Third,  efficient  distribution  and  availability  of  supply; 

Fourth,  realization  by  the  farmer  of  the  price  basis  and  conditions  upon 
which  he  can,  with  both  profit  and  fairness  to  himself  and  the  producer, 
make  free  use  of  this  material. 

Let  us  consider  each  of  these  factors  in  some  detail. 

Efficient  and  adequate  production  implies  a  sufficient  number  of  plants 
of  comparatively  large,  though  not  unwieldly  or  inflexible  output  ability, 
located  upon  deposits  of  good  quality  which  can  be  quarried  with  reasonable 
overhead  and  operating  cost  and  are  adjacent  to  some  satisfactory  railroad 
connection.  There  must  be  also  an  adequate  and  economical  supply  of  fuel, 
labor,  etc.  The  management  must  be  experienced  and  good,  including  the 
financing,  engineering,  employment  and  commercial  branches.  The  oper- 
ation, in  order  to  be  truly  efficient,  must  be  as  uniform  as  possible  and  cover 
a  reasonably  long  season  or  portion  of  the  year. 

The  second  factor  is  that  of  a  reasonable  profit  to  the  producer.  The 
selling  price  of  the  product  must  be  placed  at  the  point  where  it  will  cover 
cost  of  efficient  production  and  include  a  reasonable  profit.  In  other  words, 
it  must  be  low  enough  to  penalize  inefficiency  and  to  preclude  unreasonably 
large  profits,  while  at  the  same  time  rewarding  efficient  production  with  a 
profit  large  enough  to  encourage  continued  production  and  good  service  to 
meet  the  demand  as  the  latter  may  grow.  Too  low  a  price  destroys  supply. 
Too  high  a  price  destroys  demand.  As  long  as  the  tonnage  of  the  traffic 
hovers  around  the  limit  of  by-product  production  of  screenings,  we  are  bound 
to  have  the  bad  pendulum  effect  of  action  and  reaction  or  what  I  may  de- 
scribe in  other  words  as  being  a  vicious  circle  of  low  prices  stimulating  the 
demand  beyond  the  point  of  the  by-product  supply,  causing  much  higher 
prices,  which  discourage  demand  to  a  point  below  the  by-product  supply 
and  once  again  low  prices.  Not  until  the  farmers  generally  understand 
the  difference  between  the  factors  which  control  the  by-product  and  those 
that  control  a  prime  product  can  they  realize  what  a  perpetuating  and  ag- 
gravating effect  this  distinction  has  upon  the  vicious  circle,  or  be  able  to 


36 

break  away  and  develop  a  general  use  of  agricultural  limestone  to  a  ton- 
nage point  more  nearly  commensurate  with  the  needs  of  the  soil  and  the 
dictates  of  good  farming  practice.  It  is  human  nature  that  none  of  us  like 
to  be  held  up  and  robbed.  We  would  rather  lose  or  waste  two  dollars  than 
to  be  robbed  of  one,  but,  assuming  that  the  quarry  price  and  freight  rates 
are  established  at  a  justifiable  and  fair  point,  the  only  considerations  which 
need  affect  the  farmer's  decision  to  buy  are: 

First,  whether  or  not  it  is  a  good  investment;  and, 
Second,  whether  or  not  he  is  financially  able  to  buy. 
Each  farmer  will  have  to  answer  the  last  of  these  for  himself,  but  on 
the  former,  I  would  like  to  again  quote  from  Dr.  Bauer  of  the  University. 
He  says  that  even  on  the  present  low  prices  of  farm  products,  as  an  average 
proposition  on  a  rotation  of  corn,  oats,  clover  and  wheat  a  ton  of  limestone 
applied  to  the  sour  land  of  southern  Illinois  would  show  against  its  cost  a 
return  of  $10.22  and  in  the  corn  belt  a  return  of  $3.82.     In  other  words, 
these  figures  are  what  it  is  worth  to  such  farmers  today. 

PROBLEM   OF  DISTRIBUTION. 

I  have  said  that  efficient  distribution  is  a  vital  factor  in  the  solution  of 
the  limestone  problem.  Under  this  head  comes: 

First,  the  distribution  of  the  producing  plants  themselves.  So  far  as  it 
is  possible,  from  an  operating  standpoint,  they  should  be  located  so  as  to 
favor  the  minimum  average  shipping  distance  for  the  distribution  of  the 
product.  Also,  as  far  as  is  possible,  they  should  be  located  so  as  to  avoid 
expensive  switching  charges,  instead,  being  directly  adjacent  to  railroads 
which  can  give  prompt  service  and  adequate  car  supply.  The  outgoing  ship- 
ments should  move,  wherever  possible,  in  the  direction  of  the  natural  flow 
of  empty  cars  instead  of  in  the  direction  of  and  in  competition  with  other 
higher  class  commodities.  These  theoretical  ideas  are  subject  to  natural 
physical  limitations.  For  instance,  Providence  did  not  locate  suitab'e  lime- 
stone deposits  just  where  we  might  prefer  to  have  them.  Neither  did  the 
railroad  companies  locate  their  lines  with  prime  consideration  to  these  de- 
posits. 

Unfortunately,  in  the  eyes  of  the  commercial  producers,  consideration 
of  the  agricultural  welfare  of  the  state  as  a  whole,  does  not  weigh  nearly 
so  heavily  in  the  balance  as  do  those  of  a  commercially  competitive  or  money 
making  nature  and,  therefore,  under  present  conditions  it  may  easily  hap- 
pen that  some  districts  are,  comparatively  speaking,  blessed  with  an  ample, 
economical  supply,  while  others  are  left  with  an  inadequate,  expensive  and 
unsatisfactory  supply.  These  are,  however,  considerations  which  should 
determine  whether  or  not  we  should,  in  our  work,  encourage  or  discourage 
any  particular  effort  or  movement  toward  further  development  of  shipping 
plants  at  given  points.  In  the  interest  of  efficiency  and  the  agricultural 
welfare  of  the  state  as  a  whole,  future  development  of  production  should  be, 
so  far  as  possible,  co-ordinated  and  intelligently  balanced  through  the  in- 
fluence of  some  such  central  agency. 

LOCAL    STORAGE    NEEDS. 

I  feel  that  one  of  the  lines  along  which  there  is  the  most  room  for 
improvement  in  efficient  distribution  is  that  of  storage  provision.  Storage, 
If  properly  worked  out,  can  mean  much  more  than  simply  better  distribu- 
tin.  It  should  affect  very  favorably  the  cost  of  production  by  constituting 
a  shock  absorber  between  the  need  for  uniform,  steady  output  at  the  pro- 
ducing end  and  the  seasonally  concentrated  demand  at  the  consuming  end. 
While  protecting  production  against  fluctuating  demand,  it  should  also  pro- 
tect transportation — we  have  frequently  experienced  annoying  delays  and 
limitations  through  the  inability  of  the  railroad  companies  to  supply,  at 
the  right  time,  sufficient  equipment  and  transporation  service.  Again,  stor- 
age should  make  it  possible  for  every  farmer  to  secure  the  quantity  he  needs 


37 

as  and  when  he  needs  it  and  should  largely  do  away  with  the  annoying  and 
expensive  need  for  the  farmer  on  short  notice  to  meet  and  unload  one 
or  more  carloads  within  a  couple  of  days'  time,  regardless  of  the  condition 
of  the  roads  or  of  his  work  or  other  demands  upon  his  time  or  that  of  his 
teams.  There  can  be  storage  at  the  point  of  production;  there  can  be  com- 
munity storage  at  the  rural  railroad  stations,  or  there  can  be  individual 
farm  storage,  but  the  only  one  of  these  that  meets  fairly  satisfactorily  the 
foregoing  requirements,  is  that  of  storage  at  local  railroad  stations.  It  is 
our  hope  that  the  time  will  come  when  practically  all  rural  stations  through- 
out the  state  will  have  such  storage  provision;  and  it  is  our  desire  to  assist 
in  every  way  we  can  to  bring  this  condition  to  pass. 

There  are  many  types  of  storage  sheds,  bins,  equipment,  etc.  Some  pro 
vide  thorough  protection  from  the  elements;  some  provide  labor  savin? 
devices  and  conveniences;  others  are  relatively  crude  and  simple.  The  re 
quirements  and  financial  ability  of  the  various  communities  will  differ,  but 
the  essential  aim  should  be  that  of  storage  itself.  Let  ,me  repeat  that  1 
believe  that  this  will  in  time  prove  to  be  one  of  the  most  profitable  lines 
along  which  thought,  effort  and  money  may  be  spent. 

LIMESTONE  FBEIGHT   BATES. 

At  the  outset  of  1921,  it  was  evident  that  something  must  be  done 
regarding  limestone  freight  rates.  There  seemed  to  be  a  general  feeling 
that  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Association  should  take  the  lead  in  efforts  to 
relieve  the  situation.  Accordingly,  we  called  a  large  and  representative  con- 
ference for  February  1st  a  year  ago.  In  addition  to  the  officers  and  executive 
committeemen  of  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Association  and  members  of  the 
Phosphate-Limestone  Advisory  Committee  of  that  association,  representatives 
of  the  following  organizations  were  invited:  The  American  Farm  Bureau 
Federation;  the  Farm  Advisors  of  Illinois;  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute; 
the  Agricultural  College  and  Extension  Work  of  the  State  University;  the 
Southern  Illinois  Development  Association  and  various  representative  indi- 
vidual farmers  and  limestone  producers  in  and  adjacent  to  Illinois;  also 
representatives  of  the  phosphate  producers  of  Tennessee.  The  response  was 
very  complete  and  all  of  the  interests  numerated  were  well  represented  at 
the  conference.  The  decision  to  not  include  at  this  first  conference  represen- 
tatives of  the  carriers  was  deliberate  but  by  no  means  based  upon  an  un- 
friendly or  hostile  attitude  toward  the  railroads. 

The  prime  purposes  of  the  meeting  were  to  bring  out,  discuss,  and  co- 
ordinate the  various  views  and  angles  of  approach  to  the  problem  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  consumer's  needs  and  interests  and  to  develop  a  program 
upon  which  all  of  these  closely  related  interests  could  unite  in  the  one  great 
interest  of  the  continuance  of  soil  building  and  maintenance.  The  plan 
being  to  limit  the  consideration  rigidly  to  the  effect  of  the  transportation 
costs  upon  the  use  of  these  commodities  and  the  extent  to  which  we  should 
seek  relief,  it  was  thought  that  the  producers  might  add  material  help  in 
the  discussion  and  so  be  properly  included.  It  was  felt  that  the  discussion 
should  not  be  allowed  to  take  the  form  of  a  mere  impotent  complaint,  but 
should  be  encouraged  into  lines  of  constructive  analysis,  criticism,  and 
suggestion,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  record  that  the  meeting  actually  developed 
along  these  lines. 

After  a  thorough  discussion,  a  Committee  of  Fourteen  was  appointed  to 
go  into  a  more  detailed  analysis  of  the  conditions  and  to  prepare  and  present 
the  case.  The  Committee  was  divided  into  sub-committees  which  prepared 
the  facts  and  arguments  from  the  various  angles  of  scientific  agriculture, 
commercial  problems,  and  technical  transportation  problems.  The  work  was 
most  thoroughly  done  and,  during  the  late  summer  and  early  fall,  nego- 
tiations with  the  railroads  began.  It  was  necessary  to  have  many  individual 
interviews  with  the  higher  officials  of  each  of  the  mort  important  roads 
concerned.  To  make  a  long  story  short,  we  finally  arrived  at  a  basis 
for  a  single  line  mileage  scale,  lower  at  all  points  than  the  then  existing 


72945 


38 

mileage  scale  and  materially  lower  on  the  longer  distances  than  even  the 
pre-war  mileage  scale.  One  after  another  a  number  of  the  prominent  roads 
adopted  this  scale.  To  date,  there  are  sixteen  that  have  applied  it  and  the 
total  mileage  of  these  sixteen  roads  within  Illinois  amounts  to  nearly 
eight  thousand  or  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  total  mileage  of  all  roads  within 
the  state.  There  are  a  number  of  important  roads,  however,  that  have 
not  even  yet  adopted  the  scale;  also  the  problem  of  a  suitable  basis  for  what 
is  known  as  joint  hauls,  or  traffic  involving  two  or  more  roads,  has  not 
yet  been  worked  out.  The  latter  is  "on  the  board's"  now.  It  does  not  seem 
possible  that  anything  can  be  accomplished  until  the  general  rate  hearings, 
which  are  taking  place  at  present  at  Washington,  have  been  concluded  and 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has  handed  down  some  decision.  The 
roads  are  all  in  a  position  where  they  are  unwilling  to  take  any  voluntary 
steps  until  they  know  what  is  to  be  legislated  upon  them.  I  am  hoping  that 
this  situation  will  clear  up  and  settle  down  by  the  first  of  April,  or  soon 
thereafter,  and  that  we  will  then  be  able  to  attack,  with  prospect  of  results, 
this  joint  haul  problem.  Even  as  it  is,  Illinois  seems  to  be  the  object  of 
envy  from  the  limestone  producers  and  users  of  other  states  on  this  freight 
rate  matter. 

FAULTY  DISTRIBUTION,   NOT  OVER-PKODUCTION. 

Before  concluding  my  remarks,  I  would  like  to  emphasize  a  distinction 
which,  I  think,  is  too  often  entirely  overlooked,  or  at  least  mimimized.  It 
is  the  distinction  between  maximum  production  and  efficient  production. 
Authorities  tell  us  that,  taking  the  world  as  a  whole  today,  there  is  not  an 
over-production  but  rather  an  under-production  of  food  crops.  What  seems 
to  us  in  America  and  is,  in  effect,  an  over-production  at  this  time  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  distribution  is  out  of  joint.  We  should  not,  however,  allow 
considerations  of  the  need  for  curtailed  production,  if  such  really  exists, 
to  make  us  less  efficient,  but  we  should  instead  strive  to  be  more  efficient 
in  production.  Efficiency  is  a  money  maker  in  times  of  prosperity  and  high 
prices,  but  it  is  also  a  money  saver, — yes,  even  a  buisness  life  saver, — in 
times  of  low  prices  and  distress.  If  there  is  really  an  over-production  and 
prices  of  farm  crops  are  low  relative  to  the  cost  of  production,  would  we  not 
be  better  off  in  every  respect  if  we  could  grow  three-fourths  as  much  on 
two-thirds  the  acreage?  Limestone  and  phosphorus,  or  in  other  words  soil 
fertility,  constitute  the  cornerstone  of  agricultural  efficiency.  I  quote  from 
an  article  in  Harvey's  Weekly,  dated  September  27,  1919: 

"British  economists  are  urging  an  increase  of  agricultural  produc- 
tion in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  are  pointing  out  the  discreditable  con- 
trast between  that  country  and  Germany,  before  the  war,  in  the  amount 
of  staples  produced  in  proportion  to  the  total  area  under  cultivation. 
The  contrast  between  those  countries  and  the  United  States  is  still  more 
striking  and  more  discreditable.  Thus  to  each  100  acres  of  cultivated 
land  Germany  produced  33  tons  of  wheat,  Great  Britain  15  tons,  and  the 
United  States  4%  tons.  To  each  100  acres  Germany  produced  55  tons 
of  potatoes,  Great  Britain  11  tons,  and  the  United  States  2%  tons.  To 
each  100  acres  Germany  produced  28  tons  of  milk,  Great  Britain  17% 
tons,  and  the  United  States  5  tons.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  those 
countries  devote  a  larger  proportion  of  their  land  to  these  crops  than 
does  the  United  States,  where  vast  areas  are  planted  in  cotton,  corn, 
and  other  crops  not  grown  in  Europe.  Nevertheless  the  contract  is  also 
due  largely  to  the  difference  in  methods  of  cultivation,  and  the  conse- 
quently much  smaller  production  from  each  acre  here  than  there.  We 
shall  be  great  gainers  if  intensive  cultivation  is  promoted  as  a  result 
of  necessary  war-thrift." 

I  would  like  to  ask:  Did  the  war  make  us  more  thrifty  and  efficient, 
or  did  it  make  us  more  extravagant?  Did  it  encourage  well  balanced  diver- 
sified and  conservative  methods  of  agricultural  production  or  did  it  cause 


39 

us  to  ignore,  for  the  time  being,  the  welfare  of  the  soil  upon  which  our 
agricultural  prosperity  rests?  If  this  country  is  to  continue  to  prosper, 
it  must  be  a  factor  in  the  world's  markets  and,  if  we  are  to  compete  in  the 
world's  markets  agriculturally,  we  must  compare  favorably  with  the  older 
countries  in  our  attention  to  permanent  soil  fertility  and  efficient  production. 

I  wish  to  close  by  expressing  the  hope  and  the  belief  that  the  fine  team- 
work and  spirit  of  co-operation  that  exists  between  the  various  agencies,  the 
State  University,  Experiment  Station,  Farmers'  Institute,  Farm  Advisors' 
Association,  and  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Association,  will  continue  and  will 
bear  much  valuable  fruit  for  the  good  of  all. 

I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  We  all  agree  that  was  a  mighty  fine  address  and 
one  which  will  be  of  great  value  in  the  annual  report  to  be  published  later. 
We  have  had  a  good  session  and  I  hope  limestone,  phosphate  and  clover  will 
ring  in  your  ears  when  you  go  to  sleep. 

Now  I  want  to  sum  up  just  in  a  few  words  the  two  great  problems  of 
agricultural  production,  the  basic  problems.  One  is  the  fixation  of  atmo- 
spheric nitrogen,  which  in  plain  English  means  the  growth  of  legumes  like 
clover,  and  the  other  is  the  fixation  of  atmospheric  carbon  in  the  form  of 
sugar,  starches,  and  so  forth.  The  fixation  of  those  things  from  the  air  is  the 
farmer's  problem.  Legumes  will  grow  and  fix  the  atmospheric  nitrogen  in 
the  proportion  as  they  get  nitrogen  and  phosphorus  from  the  soil,  and  we 
can  fix  the  atmospheric  carbon  to  make  sugars,  starches,  oils,  etc.,  which 
constitute  97  per  cent  of  our  staple  grain  crops,  in  the  proportion  in  which 
the  plants  get  limestone,  phosphorus  and  nitrogen  out  of  the  soil. 


WEDNESDAY  AFTERNOON   SESSION. 

February  22,  1922,  1:30  o'clock  P.  M. 
Vocal  Solo  H.  W.  Stewart 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Our  speakers  this  morning  discussed  farming 
from  the  soil  side.  They  told  you  what  was  necessary  to  make  soil  fertile 
and  our  agricultural  permanence  depends  largely  on  our  fertility.  Now 
we  must  learn  more  about  getting  the  things  out  of  the  soil  after  we  have 
put  them  in  the  soil.  We  don't  know  much  about  our  crops,  especially 
the  great  staple  crop  of  corn.  Wheat  had  been  under  training  of  the  human 
hand  for  thousands  of  years,  and  some  of  the  other  crops,  and  they  are 
pretty  well  trained  plants,  but  here  is  our  great  staple  crop  of  corn  that 
the  human  hand  has  not  been  dealing  with  very  long  and  we  know  very 
little  about  that  great  plant.  That  is  going  to  be  our  study  a  good  deal 
this  afternoon,  learning,  if  we  can,  how  to  help  this  wonderful  plant  to 
take  more  things  out  of  the  soil  and  give  us  a  response  in  crops.  A  good 
way  to  do  that  is  to  study  it  from  the  practical  side  of  production.  We  have 
a  man  who  has  been  giving  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  that  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  that  is  Mr.  Mosher  the  farm  Adviser  in  Woodford  County, 
and  he  will  tell  you  what  he  has  done  with  the  training  of  corn  for  a  few 
years.  Mr.  Mosher,  of  Woodford  County.  [Applause.] 

UTILITY  CORN  TESTS. 
(M.  L.  Mosher.) 

MB.  PRESIDENT,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE: 
In  approaching  this  subject  I  wish  to  present  a  few  things  that  have  led 
up  to  the  work  that  has  been  done  by  the  Woodford  County  Farm  Bureau 
during  the  last  three  years.  Then  I  wish  to  present  that  work  to  you, 
telling  how  the  Woodford  County  Farm  Bureau  corn  test  was  carried  on, 
with  some  of  the  results.  Later,  with  this  bushel  of  corn  that  has  been 


40 

brought  in  I  wish  to  put  the  lessons  which  we  have  learned  in  such  a  form 
that  you  can  take  them  back  home  with  you  and  apply  them.  Unless  we 
can  take  these  things  home  and  apply  them  to  our  own  work  there  is 
not  very  much  gained  by  having  been  here. 


Representative  Ears  from  the  Twelve  Highest  Yielding  Lots  of  Seed. 

In  leading  up  to  the  work  that  was  done  in  Woodford  County  beginning 
in  1919  we  will  have  to  go  back  to  1903,  because  that  Woodford  County 
corn  test  was  not  begun  in  1919,  it  was  commenced  in  1903,  back  in  Sioux 
County  in  Iowa.  Many  of  you  older  men  and  some  of  the  younger  ones 
have  had  the  privilege  of  coming  in  contact  with  Professor  Holden  who 
was  with  the  University  of  Illinois  for  a  few  years,  with  the  Funk  Brothers 
Seed  Company  for  a  time,  and  then  for  several  years  in  charge  of  the 
Department  of  Agronomy  first  and  then  with  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
tural Extension  of  the  Iowa  State  College.  It  was  while  he  was  there  that 
this  work  really  began.  There  were  some  of  the  people  who  came  down 
to  the  Farmers'  Short  Course  at  Ames  and  were  inspired  by  the  work 
that  Professor  Holden  and  his  associates  had  done  there  who  asked  if 
the  work  could  not  be  brought  home  to  them  so  that  more  of  their  people 
could  see  it.  This  led  to  the  beginning  of  what  was  known  as  the  County 
Farm  Demonstration  Work. 

In  the  county  farm  demonstration  work  there  were  three  lines  of 
work  done  with  corn  that  led  up  to  the  doing  of  the  work  that  is  just 
being  completed  this  year  in  Woodford  County.  One  line  was  what  was 
known  as  the  "Farmers'  Variety  Test."  In  carrying  that  on  we  would  go 
into  a  county  where  they  had  applied  for  this  work  and  arrangements  had 
been  made  with  county  boards  of  supervisors  to  conduct  the  work  on  the 
County  Farm.  Men  would  drive  through  the  county  and  gather  seed  corn 
from  people  in  the  county,  getting  from  sixty  to  eighty  samples  from  the 
planter  boxes  just  as  the  men  were  planting  the  corn  in  the  fields.  When 
they  had  gathered  up  sixty  to  eighty  samples  they  would  be  taken  to  the 
county  farm  and  planted  side  by  side.  In  the  fall  a  picnic  would  be  held, 
people  would  get  together  and  see  the  difference  in  the  corn.  The  corn 
would  be  husked  out,  graded  and  records  kept.  A  little  publication  would 
be  gotten  out  showing  the  peculiar  differences  there  were  in  the  corn. 
After  eight  years  of  that  kind  of  work,  in  32  counties  all  over  the  state  of 
Iowa,  in  which  corn  from  4516  different  farms  was  tested,  the  significant 
condition  was  learned  that  when  we  got  a  large  number  of  samples  of 
corn  just  as  the  farmers  of  any  county  .would  plant  them,  put  them  side 
by  side  under  the  same  conditions,  we  found  that  the  best  ten  percent  on 
an  average  of  those  eight  years'  work  yielded  just  about  eleven  bushels 
per  acre  more  than  the  average  of  all  of  the  corn  in  the  test.  At  the  same 
time  there  would  be  ten  percent  yielding  about  thirteen  bushels  per  acre 
less  than  the  average  corn. 

After  we  had  done  that  for  several  years  we  got  to  the  point  where 
we  knew  almost  to  a  certainty  when  we  gathered  up  the  samples  in  the 


41 


spring,  what  the  results  would  be  in  the  fall,  because  we  found  it  to 
hold  almost  invariably  true  that  the  ten  percent  best  lot  of  corn  in 
the  community  would  produce  from  ten  to  twelve  bushels  per  acre  more 
than  the  average  corn  in  that  community. 

Another  line  of  work  which  was  carried  on  was  what  was  known  as 
the  imported  seed  test.  In  Iowa  for  the  last  nineteen  years  there  has  been 
held  an  annual  corn  show.  It  is  one  of  the  big  events  in  the  year.  The 
state  is  divided  into  several  districts  and  for  seven  years  of  the  time  that 
these  county  tests  were  going  on  we  would  get  the  prize  winning  samples 
at  the  State  show.  That  is,  we  would  get  corn  from  the  men  who  had  the 
prize  winning  samples  and  plant  those  side  by  side  with  this  corn  grown 
in  the  community,  and  we  found  this  significant  condition,  that  in  an  average 
year  the  home  grown  seed,  not  the  best  but  the  average  home  grown  seed, 
would  produce  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  bushels  per  acre  more  than  the 
supposedly  best  seed  of  the  state,  and  among  the  home  grown  corn  there 
would  be  that  ten  percent  which  would  yield  about  twelve  and  a  half  to 
thirteen  bushels  per  acre  more  than  this  supposedly  best  corn  of  the  state. 
Now,  we  attributed  that  in  those  days  to  the  so-called  fact  that  it  does 
not  pay  to  take  corn  away  from  the  community  in  which  it  has  been  devel- 
oped, and  we  thought  that  that  was  the  principal  reason  why  the  corn 
which  was  winning  the  prizes  at  the  corn  show  was  a  lower  yielding  corn 


Two   of   The   Low   Yielding1   Samples 

No.  99  was  by  far  the  lowest  yielding  sample  in  1919  and  1920.  It  was  not 
in  the  1921  test,  but  could  not  have  come  out  of  last  place  for  the  three  year 
average,  even  though  it  had  gone  to  first  place  in  1921.  No,  35  and  No.  99  are 
both  typical  of  many  low  yielding  lots. 


42 

than  much  of  the  corn  that  we  got  out  of  the  planter  boxes  just  as  we 
got  it  from  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry  throughout  the  counties. 

Another  significant  test  that  was  carried  on  in  connection  with  that 
work  was  what  we  called  the  single  ear  test.  We  would  get  forty  ears 
from  one  man,  or  forty  ears  from  each  of  two  or  three  men  in  one  county. 
The  men  usually  picked  out  pretty  fair  ears  of  corn.  We  wpuld  number 
those  from  one  to  forty,  shell  off  about  half  of  the  corn  from  the  ear  and 
plant  corn  from  ear  one  in  row  one,  ear  two  in  row  two,  and  so  on.  That 
work  was  done  with  corn  from  144  different  men  in  the  32  counties  over 
six  years'  of  time,  and  we  found  this  condition  there,  that  one-fourth  of 
a  man's  corn  would  yield  on  an  average  about  eleven  or  twelve  bushels 
per  acre  more  than  the  average  of  all  of  his  corn.  So  we  realized  that 
if  there  was  some  way  by  which  we  could  pick  the  one-fourth  best  ears 
out  of  the  man's  corn  by  any  means  of  selection  we  would  be  getting 
ahead  in  this  matter  of  corn  selection. 

So  when  the  opportunity  came,  when  the  farm  bureau  work  got  under 
way,  a  plan  of  work  was  undertaken  to  actually  find  who  it  was  in  the 
county  who  had  the  best  yielding  corn  through  a  series  of  tests,  making 
sure  that  a  man  had  corn  that  would  do  well  not  only  one  year  but  each 
of  several  years,  and  then  to  distribute  that  corn.  Right  here  let  me 
mention  that  I  believe  that  that  is  one  of  the  best  kinds  of  work  for  a 
farm  bureau  to  do,  to  take  the  work  of  the  scientists  of  our  colleges,  ex- 
periment staiton,  Department  of  Agriculutre,  and  apply  it  to  the  work 
on  our  farms  in  an  organized  way.  In  the  corn  test  that  was  carried  on  in 
Woodford  County  the  farm  bureau  simply  undertook  to  make  use  of  that 
work  that  had  been  carried  on  for  several  years  in  Iowa,  and  similar  work 
carried  on  in  other  states.  I  mention  the  Iowa  work  because  I  was 
familiar  with  it,  having  had  considerable  to  do  with  it  during  the  years 
that  was  being  carried  on.  The  farm  bureau  in  Woodford  County  took 
that  work  and  applied  it  in  a  way  which  would  enable  the  men  in  the 
county  to  know  where  the  high  yielding,  good  quality  type  of  corn  was, 
and  worked  out  a  plan  whereby  that  seed  could  be  distributed  throughout 
the  county.  The  work  that  was  undertaken  in  Woodford  County  was  begun 
three  years  ago. 

In  order  that  you  may  understand  clearly  just  how  it  was  carried  on, 
that  I  may  not  leave  out  some  of  the  details  and  not  take  too  much  of 
your  time  in  rambling  around,  I  am  going  to  read  from  the  report  which 
was  gotten  out  covering  that  work. 

FACTORS    IN    SEED    CORN   SELECTION. 

During  January,  1919,  each  of  one  hundred  eighteen  men  brought  in  one 
hundred  ears  of  his  seed  corn  for  this  test.  Most  of  the  men  selected 
the  one  hundred  ears  carefully  from  their  supply  of  seed.  A  few  brought 
it  without  any  special  selection. 

All  but  three  or  four  samples  had  been  grown  in  the  county  for  five 
or  more  years.  We  limited  the  test  to  such  home  grown  seed  because  of 
the  generally  accepted  conclusion  that  the  best  seed  corn  for  any  locality 
is  that  which  has  been  grown  for  several  years  in  that  locality. 

As  each  sample  was  brought  in,  with  the  help  of  the  owner  we  dis- 
carded twenty  ears  which  were  loose  on  the  cob,  very  light,  or  had  apparent 
defects  other  than  so-called  defects  of  type.  We  did  not  meddle  with  the 
type  of  corn  as  selected  by  the  owner. 

Ten  representative  ears  were  then  selected  from  the  eighty  and  num- 
bered with  the  owners  number.  These  ten-ear  samples  were  kept  to  use 
in  exhibits  showing  the  results  of  the  test. 

The  remaining  seventy  ears  were  then  numbered  consecutively  from 
one  to  seventy.  Three  rows  of  kernels  were  shelled  from  each  ear  and  placed 
in  an  envelope  numbered  the  same  as  the  ear.  The  owner  of  each  sample 
took  the  seventy  ears  home  with  him  and  the  shelled  samples  were  brought 
to  the  Farm  Bureau  office. 


43 


m  m  M 


The   Two   Hig-h   Yielding'   Samples 

Ten-ear  samples  selected  from  bushel  lots  grown  by  George  Krug  (No.  62) 
and  E.  R.  Schertz  (No.  101)  in  1920,  the  middle  year  of  the  test. 

A 'careful  germination  test  of  ten  grains  from  each  envelope  was  made 
and  the  corn  from  the  envelopes  which  did  not  show  perfect  germination 
was  discarded.  The  corn  from  each  of  the  remaining  envelopes  was  ihen 
examined  carefully,  and  any  lots  which  showed  badly  shrunken  kernels  or 
apparently  diseased  kernels  were  discarded.  The  corn  from  the  remaining 
envelopes  was  mixed  together.  This  sample  of  corn  from  the  ears  showing 
perfect  germination,  full  kernel  development,  and  apparent  freedom  from 
disease  was  the  one  planted  in  the  field.  As  an  average  of  the  one  hundred 
eighteen  samples,  corn  from  about  fifty  ears  was  mixed  together  to  make 
the  sample  planted.  A  small  sample  of  each  lot  of  shelled  seed  ready  for 
planting  was  saved  to  be  used  in  exhibits  of  the  work. 

The  owner  of  each  lot  of  seed  was  notified  of  the  numbers  of  the  ears 
selected  for  the  field  test,  and  in  most  cases  the  men  picked  those  ears  out, 
shelled  them  together  and  planted  such  seed  separately  from  the  rest  of 
their  corn. 


HOW  THE  FIELD  TEST  WAS   CONDUCTED. 

Each  of  the  one  hundred  eighteen  samples  was  planted  in  four  places, 
twice  on  the  County  Farm  near  Metamora  and  twice  on  the  Frank  Hock 
farm  east  of  Benson.  The  corn  was  planted  by  hand  so  as  to  get  the  same 
stand.  In  1919  three  kernels  were  planted  in  each  hill.  The  plots  used 
were  four  rows  wide  and  fifteen  long.  Every  other  plot  was  planted  with 


44 

one  lot  of  seed  so  that  each  of  the  test  samples  was  planted  between  two 
plots  of  the  same  kind  of  corn. 

HARVESTING  THE  COBN. 

The  corn  was  husked  the  latter  part  of  October.  As  the  corn  from  each 
plot  was  weighed,  the  ears  were  divided  into  two  grades,  one  of  good  corn 
and  one  of  small  nubbins,  mouldy  ears,  and  badly  smutted  ears.  The  corn 
in  each  case  was  weighed  separately. 

In  1919,  twenty  representative  ears  from  each  man's  corn  were  saved 
at  the  County  Farm  and  twenty  others  at  the  Hock  farm.  These  samples 
were  tied  up  with  twine,  weighed,  and  hung  up  in  the  Farm  Bureau  Office 
to  dry.  When  dry,  they  were  weighed  and  shelled,  the  shelled  corn  weighed, 
and  a  sample  of  the  shelled  corn  sent  to  the  Crop  Production  Department 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  where  a  moisture  test  was  made. 

CONTINUING  THE  TEST  IN  1920  AND  1921. 

In  1920,  the  same  one  hundred  eighteen  men  who  had  seed  in  the  1919 
test  each  brought  in  another  bushel  of  eighty  ears  of  the  same  kind  of  corn 
as  that  furnished  in  1919.  In  most  cases,  the  1920  bushel  was  selected  from 
seed  grown  from  the  selected  ears  of  the  1919  bushel,  but  in  all  cases  it  was 
of  the  same  "kind  of  corn.  Two  additional  samples  were  included  in  1920, 
making  one  hundred  twenty  lots. 

In  1921,  one  hundred  seventeen  bushels  were  brought  in  by  the  same  men 
who  had  seed  in  the  1919  and  1920  tests.  All  three  of  the  men  whose  corn 
was  dropped  had  quit  farming  and  their  seed  was  no  longer  obtainable. 

The  test  was  conducted  in  almost  the  same  manner  in  1920  and  1921 
as  in  1919.  The  differences  were  as  follows:  Each  man  brought  in  only 
eighty  ears,  and  no  sorting  out  of  the  ear  corn  was  done.  Six  kernels  from 
each  ear  were  tested  for  germination  and  disease  instead  of  ten  as  used  the 
first  year.  In  1921,  the  germination  and  disease  test  was  made  under  super- 
vision of  J.  R.  Holbert,  corn  disease  specialist  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture. 

In  1920  and  1921,  the  seed  was  planted  with  four  kernels  per  hill,  and 
the  corn  thinned  to  two  stalks  per  hill  in  the  first  and  third  rows  and  to 
three  stalks  per  hill  in  the  second  and  fourth  rows  of  each  plot.  The  thin- 
ning was  done  when  the  corn  was  about  a  foot  tall. 

In  1920  and  1921,  twenty  representative  ears  for  the  moisture  and  shell- 
ing test  were  saved  from  each  of  the  four  plots  where  each  lot  of  seed  was 
planted,  instead  of  from  only  one  plot  on  each  farm  as  was  done  in  1919. 

The  corn  was  planted  on  the  F.  M.  Hock  farm  east  of  Benson  all  three 
years.  It  was  planted  on  the  County  Farm  in  1919  and  1920,  and  on  the  C. 
M.  Smith  farm  instead  of  the  County  Farm  in  1291. 

INFORMATION     SECURED     REGARDING     EACH     SAMPLE. 

Bushels  per  Acre.  The  yields  as  published  are  of  dry  shelled  corn.  By 
means  of  the  moisture  and  selling  tests,  the  yields  of  each  sample  were 
based  on  the  yield  of  shelled  corn  after  it  had  dtied  out  so  as  to  contain 
fifteen  per  cent  moisture. 

Per  cent  of  Moisture.  The  moisture  content  of  each  sample  at  cribbing 
time  was  determined. 

Per  cent  of  Good  Corn.  The  proportion  by  weight  of  the  ear  corn 
which  was  sound,  marketable  corn  at  husking  time  was  determined  for  that 
grown  from  each  sample  each  year 

Per  cent  of  Shelled  Corn.  The  shelling  percentage  of  the  crop  raised 
from  each  sample  was  determined  each  year. 


45 


INTERESTING    SUMMABIES 

The  following  table  shows  some  interesting  summaries  and  comparisons. 

Bushels  Per  cent  Per  cent 

per  Per  cent  Good  Shelled 

Acre.  Moisture.         Corn.  Corn. 

Average  of  120  samples 71.5  21.4  89.7  85.7 

Average  of  highest  sample 78.1  20.3  89.7  86.3 

Average   of  lowest  sample 61.0  23.6  86.1  85.3 

Average  of  12  high  samples 75.5  20.7  89.7  86.1 

Average  of  12  low  samples 67.4  21.9  86.1  85.5 

Average  of  12  with  least  moisture...            72.2  19.1  89.5  85.8 

Average  of  12  with  most  moisture...            69.9  23.6  88.7      .  85.4 

Average  of  12  with  most  good  corn..            71.9  21.4  91.7  85.5 

Average  of  12  with  least  good  corn..            69.3  22.5  87.2  85.7 

Average  of  12  with  most  shelled  corn            72.6  21.1  89.6  86.8 

Average  of  12  with  least  shelled  corn           69.8  21.5  89.8  84.8 

Notice  from  the  above  table  that  the  highest  yielding  sample  produced 
17.1  bushels  per  acre  more  than  the  lowest  yielding  lot.  The  twelve  (10  per 
cent  of  all)  highest  yielding  lots  yielded  eight  bushels  more  than  the  twelve 
(10  per  cent  of  all)  low  yielding  lots  and  Jour  bushels  more  than  the  average 
of  all  120  lots. 

The  high  yielding  corn  was  earlier  maturing  than  the  lower  yielding 
lots  as  indicated  by  the  lower  moisture  content  at  husking  time. 

SELECTING  SAMPLES   FOB  SEED  PLOT  OE  FOB  EXHIBIT. 

The  following  plan  of  picking  out  a  sample  of  corn  has  proved  the  most 
satisfactory  of  any  which  I  have  ever  followed.  To  begin,  the  ears  should  be 
laid  out  on  a  long  board  or  table  about  fifty  or  one  hundred'  ears  at  a  time, 
with  the  butts  of  the  ears  all  pointed  one  way  and  even  with  the  edge  of 
the  table  or  board. 

HEAVY,    SOLID  EARS. 

Pick  up  each  ear,  feel  the  weight  of  it,  and  twist  it.  Discard  every  ear 
which  is  not  heavy  and  solid.  Nothing  else  should  be  considered  while  going 
over  the  corn  the  first  time,  and  every  ear  thrown  out  which  is  apparently 
light  or  the  kernels  of  which  are  loose  on  the  cob,  regardless  of  how  nice 
looking  the  ear  is  in  other  ways.  I  consider  this  the  most  important  measure 
of  good  seed  corn,  and  while  handling  ears  to  learn  whether  they  are  heavy 
and  solid,  any  ear  which  is  particularly  different  from  the  rest  in  size  or 
shape  or  in  the  size  and  shape  of  the  kernels  should  be  discarded.  While 
uniformity  is  not  absolutely  essential  to  profitable  seed,  it  is  highly  desirable 
and  should  be  required'  in  samples  for  exhibit. 

I  do  not  consider  this  matter  of  getting  rid  of  irregularly  shaped  ears 
and  kernels  next  in  importance  to  getting  rid  of  light  and  loose  ears,  but 
while  the  ears  are  being  handled  before  the  kernels  are  removed  is  the 
logical  time  to  get  rid  of  a  lot  of  ears  which  would  not  possibly  be  selected 
for  a  sample  for  exhibit  or  for  a  seed'  plot. 

BBIGHT,    WELL-DEVELOPED    KEBNELS. 

Two  grains  should  be  removed  from  the  same  row  side  by  side  and  laid 
in  front  of  the  ear,  one  with  the  back  side  up  and  one  with  the  germ  side  up. 
This  should  be  done  only  from  those  ears  which  have  been  selected  as  the 
specially  heavy,  solid,  fairly  uniform  ears. 

At  this  time .  select  only  those  ears  whose  kernels  are  fully  devel- 
oped. This  means  those  that  are  bright  and  clean  from  the  crown  to 
the  tip  without  any  indication  of  starchiness  except  for  a  little  way  at 
the  crown  of  the  kernel,  where  the  starchiness  naturally  appears  on  all  dent 
corn.  The  backs  of  kernels  should  have  the  appearance  which  most  farmers 
describe  as  oily. 


All  those  ears  whose  kernels  are  slightly  shrunken  at  or  near  the  tip 


...     J-"U  ~™. 


and  show  the  white,  starchy  appearance  running  down  over  the  kernel  should 
be  discarded. 

UNIFORMITY    OF    EARS    AND    KERNELS. 

The  ten  ears  of  the  exhibit  should  be  as  nearly  the  same  size  and  shape 
and  the  kernels  should  be  as  nearly  of  the  same  size  and  shape  as  it  is 
possible  to  get  them.  I  would  rather  have  a  sample  made  up  of  ears  whose 
kernels  are  of  the  same  size  and  shape  but  with  the  ears  somewhat  irregular 
than  to  have  a  sample  whose  ears  are  of  the  same  size  and  shape  but  with 
kernels  of  varying  sizes  and  shapes.  I  would  rather  have  the  ears  and 
kernels  both  somewhat  uneven  in  size  and  shape  and  have  all  heavy  solid 
ears  with  perfectly  developed  kernels  than  to  have  them  of  just  the  same 
size  and'  shape  with  some  light  or  poorly  developed  kernels  among  them. 

MINOR    CHARACTERISTICS. 

Of  course,  one  should  pay  some  attention  to  having  tips  of  ears  fairly 
well  covered,  rows  of  kernels  straight,  and  a  uniform  color  running  through 
the  ears  of  the  exhibit,  but  these  things  are  of  minor  importance  and  should 
be  looked  at  only  after  the  above  characteristics  are  carefully  considered. 

I  have  come  to  feel  that  an  old  blind  man  in  eastern  Iowa  was  right 
in  what  he  told  me  about  sixteen  years  ago  when  I  was  judging  corn  in  a 
corn  show  there.  I  had  found  I  was  giving  a  prize  to  a  blind  man.  I  asked 
him  how  it  happened  that  he  could  grow  such  corn  even  though  he  was 
blind.  He  went  over  to  the  table  where  the  corn  was  and  I  remember  so 
well  how  he  picked  up  those  ears,  tossed  them  from  one  hand  to  the  other, 
felt  them,  twisted  them,  and  he  said,  "Well,  Mr.  Mosher,  I  have  learned 
through  these  years  that  the  most  important  thing  is  not  what  you  see 
about  the  corn,  but  it  is  to  get  the  ears  that  are  heavy  and  solid."  Coming 
from  a  blind  man,  the  idea  was  impressed  very  strongly  on  my  mind,  and 
I  have  been  noticing  it  ever  since,  and  that  is  the  first  test  that  I  put  the 
corn  through. 

Q.     Do  you  judge  of  the  weights  in  a  comparative  way? 

Mr.  MOSHER:  It  is  the  comparative  weight,  the  weight  of  the  ear  for 
its  size. 

Q.  In  regard  to  this  seed  which  received  the  prize  in  the  state  of  Iowa, 
isn't  there  a  possibility  that  it  was  of  rough  type  and  the  farmers'  seed  of 
a  medium  type?  I  mean  whether  that  hasn't  some  bearing  on  the  difference 
in  yield. 

Mr.  MOSHER:  You  think  it  was  not  necessarily  because  the  corn  had 
been  moved  from  one  place  to  another  but  becaues  the  really  best  corn  had 
not  been  winning  the  prizes?  Very  likely  there  is  something  to  that,  yes,  sir, 
but  how  much  of  it  was  that  and  how  much  of  it  was  a  matter  of  moving 
the  corn  that  should  not  be  moved  I  don't  know. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  inference  of  your  question  then  is  the  high- 
est winning  corn  did  not  go  to  the  show. 

Q.     That  is  it. 

Mr.  MOSHER:  Possibly  this  will  help  to  answer  your  question.  In  this 
test  in  Woodford  County  which  we  carried  on  just  as  carefully  as  we  knew 
how,  we  had  in  that  test  men  who  had  been  winning  in  our  state  and 
national  corn  shows,  we  had1  in  that  test  nearly  all  of  the  men  who  had 
been  showing  corn  and  winning  in  the  county  shows,  and  of  the  ten  out- 
standingly, high-yielding,  good  quality  lots  of  corn  not  a  single  one  had  ever 
won  a  prize  even  in  the  county  show.  The  high-yielding  corn  was  all  from 
men  who  had  been  working  quietly  along  at  home,  along  their  own  ideas, 
without  having  shown  their  corn  at  the  corn  shows. 


47 

Q.     Hadn't  they  better  cut  out  the  show  then? 

Mr.  MOSHER:  No,  sir,  not  by  any  means  would  I  cut  out  the  show, 
but  I  would  make  a  careful  study  of  a  lot  of  this  work  that  is  being  done 
in  this  state  and  other  states  and  bring  the  type  of  corn  that  wins  the  prize 
to  conform  to  the  type  that  is  giving  our  highest  yield  and  the  best  quality 
when  we  plant  it  in  the  field. 

Q.     What  was  wrong  with  the  show  corn? 

Mr.  MOSHER:     Why  did  the  show  corn  and  winning  corn  yield  less  than 
the  other  corn? 
Q.     Yes. 
Mr.  MOSHER:     It  was  not  the  best  type  of  corn  for  our  conditions. 

Q.  Would  you  say  that  the  rules  governing  in  the  corn  show  need 
modification? 

Mr.  MOSHER:  They  are  being  modified  rather  rapidly.  I  think  they 
should  be  modified. 

In  summing  up,  an  ear  that  is  heavy  and  solid,  an  ear  that  has  grains 
that  are  plump  and  bright  clear  down  to  the  cob,  an  ear  that  has  grains 
that  are  wide  rather  than  narrow,  an  ear  that  has  grains  that  are  thick 
rather  than  thin,  an  ear  with  grains  that  are  medium  in  length  rather  than 
long  or  short,  an  ear  that  is  medium  in  size  around  but  plenty  long, — those 
are  the  things  that  should  be  taken  into  consideration. 

And'  so  again,  as  I  leave  the  platform,  I  repeat;  those  ears  that  are  most 
likely  to  be  found  in  the  high  yielding  corn  and  are  not  often  found  in 
the  low  yielding  corn  are  the  ears  that  are  heavy  and  solid,  the  ears  with 
grains  that  are  plump  and  bright  to  the  cob,  ears  with  grains  'that  are  wide, 
thick,  medium  in  length.  Those  things  are  things  that  I  consider  of  primary 
importance. 

Then  if  on  top  of  that  you  have  carefully  selected  the  ears  in  the  fall 
from  stalks  that  are  free  from  disease,  from  stalks  where  the  ears  were 
in  the  right  position,  then  in  addition  to  this  selection  in  the  spring  will 
make  that  careful  germination  test  and  get  rid  of  those  that  are  diseased, 
I  believe  you  will  have  gone  a  long  ways  towards  getting  the  very  best. 

As  I  said  before,  the  very  highest  yielding  corn  in  this  test  was  from 
men  who  had  no  realization  of  the  fact  that  they  had  especially  good  corn. 
They  were  men  who  had  not  attended  farmers'  institutes,  or  college,  or  short 
course  schools,  who  did  not  read  much.  Some  had  learned  from  their  grand- 
fathers how  to  select  the  seed  and  had  kept  the  same  seed  in  the  family 
throughout  the  last  forty  years.  I  believe  there  are  a  few  men  like  that  in 
every  county  who  know  more  about  how  to  select  seed  corn  which  will  grow 
a  larger  yield  of  good  quality  corn  than  any  of  us  know.  The  thing  that 
we  should  do  here  in  the  Corn  Belt  is  to  ferret  those  men  out  through  our 
Farm  Bureaus  and  Crop  Improvement  Associations  and  make  use  of  that 
intuitive  knowledge  that  has  led  them  to  go  so  far  in  advance  of  the  rest  of 
us.  I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  it  is  mighty  fortunate  that  there  have 
been  men  who  have  been  willing  to  go  into  the  science  of  breeding  and  ap- 
plying it  to  agriculture.  Now  there  is  a  pound  ear  of  corn  which  probably 
was  produced  on  a  stalk  weighing  a  pound.  That  stalk  which  weighed  a 
pound  made  ninety-seven  per  cent  of  its  weight  after  the  middle  of  July, 
or  after  that  ear  started.  For  plants  to  do  that  they  must  be  strong  and 
free  from  disease. 

Agriculture  is  fortunate  in  this  state  in  having  men  who  can  apply  the 
real  science  of  breeding  to  these  ordinary  crops,  and  the  man  who  stands 
at  the  head  of  this  valuable  work,  perhaps,  in  the  actual  demonstration,  is 
Jim  Holbert,  of  the  Funk  Seed  Corn  Corporation,  in  Bloomington.  We  want 


48 

to  take  our  hats  off  to  Mr.  Holbert,  because  he  is  doing  for  agriculture  what 
scientists  are  trying  to  do  for  animals  and  other  things.  It  ought  to  be 
Dr.  Holbert,  but  for  short  we  call  him  Jimmy  Holbert. 

The  human  race  has  been  doing  much  with  corn,  but  it  is  only  during 
the  last  few  years  that  we  are  learning  how  to  breed  it.  I  don't  presume 
that  there  is  a  grain  plant  that  grows  anywhere  that  has  the  capacity  to 
perform  its  functions  as  well  as  the  corn  plant.  Many  of  the  other  grains 
are  doing  better.  Wheat  is  doing  better.  It  is  a  more  efficient  plant  today 
than  corn,  but  the  possibility  of  corn  exceeds  wheat  very  considerably.  Of 
course,  corn  is  a  little  disgraced  now  perhaps  because  of  its  price,  but  don't 
let  that  worry  you.  It  won't  be  long  before  they  will  be  asking  the  Ameri- 
can farmer  to  get  busy  and  produce  corn  and  other  things  more  abundantly 
than  we  ever  have  before.  This  breakdown  of  the  world's  machinery  of 
banking  and  transportation  will  soon  be  remedied  and  then  they  will  want 
our  corn  and  the  other  products  of  our  soils. 

Q.  How  many  days  will  it  take  corn  to  mature  in  Lake  county?  That 
is  about  150  miles  north  of  Champaign  county. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  So  far  as  the  question  of  latitude  is  concerned 
'there  would  not  be  much  difference,  but  so  far  as  the  temperature  changes 
are  concerned  there  might  be  considerable,  and  it  would  be  dependent  on 
those  temperature  changes.  Nobody  can  tell  you  in  advance  what  those 
will  be  in  any  one  season. 

I  say  it  again  it  ought  to  be  Dr.  Holbert,  but  we  will  call  him  Jimmie 
for  short. 

CORN  DISEASES  AND  CORN  BREEDING. 
(*James  R.  Holbert.) 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  Before  we  start  a  brief  dis- 
cussion of  some  of  the  genetic  phases  of  this  corn  work  I  would  like  to  re- 
view the  other  phases  that  have  been  mentioned  before. 

One  of  the  most  important  periods  in  the  life  of  a  corn  plant  is  the 
germination  stage,  i.  e.,  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  following  planting. 
This  is  especially  true  where  the  corn  has  grown  from  infected  seed,  or  seed 
susceptible  to  the  root  and  stalk  rots.  Nearly  disease-free  and  vigorous 
germinating  seed  is  influenced  less  by  unfavorable  soil  temperature  and 
soil  moisture  conditions  during  this  early  period  of  growth,  and,  as  a  result, 
can  be  planted  earlier  with  safety. 

One  of  the  first  symptoms  of  the  corn  root  and  stalk  diseases  is  the 
reduction  in  stand  and  the  reduction  in  vigor.  We  have  just  recently  sum- 
marized four  years'  experiments  on  this  phase  of  the  work  and  the  results 
will  be  published  in  due  time  in  the  Journal  of  Agricultural  Research  issued 
by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  results  reported  in 
this  discussion  have  been  secured  by  investigations  conducted  cooperatively 
by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Funk  Bros.  Seed  Company, 
and  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 

We  have  here  a  group  of  plants  grown  from  seed  planted  at  the  same 
time  in  the  same  soil  and  photographed  at  the  same  time.  This  one  (indicat- 
ing) is  grown  from  disease-free  seed  and  the  others  from  badly  infected 
seed.  Usually  such  plants  die  within  a  few  days  after  emerging.  In  many 


'Note:      (Mr.  Holbert  used  slides  exclusively). 


49 


Experimental  evidence  favors  the  type  illustrated  by  the  ear  on  the  left. 
(Farmers'  Bulletin  1176.) 


50 


James  R.  Holbert 


fields  this  results  in  a  fifteen  to  twenty  percent 
reduction  in  stand  during  the  first  two  or  three 
weeks. 

The  next  slide  shows  again  a  strong,  vigor- 
ous corn  plant  grown  from  disease-free  seed. 
These  others  (indicating)  grew  from '  slightly 
infected  seed. 

Q.  How  long  will  they  live? 
Prof.  HOLBERT:  They  would  probably 
live  throughout  the  season.  The  difference  be- 
tween these  plants — so  noticeable  now — may 
disappear  somewhat  in  a  few  weeks,  perhaps  by 
the  middle  of  July,  so  that  these  may  look 
apparently  equal.  But  we  find  that  plants 
stunted  in  their  early  stages  of  growth  never 
recover  sufficiently  to  produce  a  normal  yield 
of  corn.  They  are  usually  nubbin  bearers  or 
barren,  or  in  case  they  do  produce  an  ear,  it 
is  frequently  of  poor  quality. 

This  slide  (indicating)  shows  the  same 
thing  from  a  different  standpoint.  In  this 
case  we  have  taken  two  seedlings  from  the 
germinator,  one  a  clean  healthy,  vigorous  seed- 
ling, which  is  represented  by  the  solid  line, 
and  the  other  a  badly  diseased  seedling,  repre- 
sented by  the  broken  line.  They  were  the  same 
height  when  they  were  transplanted.  From  the 
graph  you  will  note  that  the  diseased  plant  spent  about  a  week  or  ten  days  in 
sending  out  a  new  set  of  roots  so  that  it  could  gather  nutrient  from  the  soil. 
After  that  time  it  grew  at  a  parallel  rate  with  the  disease-free,  and  finally 
obtained  the  same  circumference  at  the  base  but  was  not  quite  as  high.  The 
difference  in  yield  is  well  illustrated  by  the  photograph  of  the  good-sized  ear 
from  the  healthy  plant  and  the  nubbin  from  the  plant  grown  from  infected 
seed. 

Here  (indicating)  we  have  the  same  thing  again  in  the  field.  These 
two  were  planted  in  adjacent  hills,  one  from  badly  infected  seed  and  the 
other  from  clean  healthy  seed.  Note  the  difference  in  vigor.  The  next  slide 
will  show  the  same  plants  at  harvest  time.  The  plants  are  practically  equal 
in  height.  The  one  has  two  nubbins,  the  other  has  three  good  sized  ears. 

The  next  slide  shows  the  same  thing  carried  over  to  larger  plats.  Poorly 
selected  seed  usually  contains  a  large  amount  of  infected  seed.  Fields  of 
corn  grown  from  such  seed  have  many  missing  hills,  a  poor  field  stand,  and 
many  weak  plants.  These  two  plats  were  planted  with  the  same  man's  corn 
at  the  same  time,  no  difference  in  the  soil  treatment.  Note  the  irregularity 
in  growth,  some  plants  waist  high,  other  shoulder  high,  and  some  only  knee 
high.  The  difference  in  total  yield  was  not  so  marked.  However,  the  plat 
planted  with  nearly  disease-free  seed  gave  an  increase  of  twenty-five  bushels 
of  sound,  marketable  corn. 

During  the  past  two  years  we  have  been  studying  the  influence  of  time 
of  planting,  soil  temperature,  soil  moisture,  and  other  factors  with  relation 
to  the  development  of  the  different  corn  root  and  stalk  rot  diseases.  This 
graph  represents  the  data  secured  from  just  one  of  these  experiments.  The 
solid  line  indicates  the  portion  of  the  corn  planted  that  produced  strong, 
healthy  plants  in  the  case  of  nearly  disease-free  seed.  This  is  the  first  plant- 
ing (indicating)  May  7th;  the  second,  May  14th;  the  third,  May  21st;  and 
the  fourth,  May  30th.  Time  of  planting  had  little  effect  on  the  stand  and 
vigor  of  corn  grown  from  good  seed.  But  in  the  case  of  the  diseased  seed 
the  percentage  of  strong  plants  dropped  in  the  first  planting.  But  in  the 
last  planting — when  all  conditions  were  very  favorable — the  diseased  seed 
produced  a  large  percentage  of  strong  plants.  However,  those  strong  plants 


51 


52 

were  not  able  to  produce  a  good  yield  of  corn  even  if  they  did  start  off  well, 
as  the  next  slide  will  illustrate. 

The  black  represents  the  percentage  increase  of  strong  plants  due  to  the 
use  of  clean,  vigorous  seed — about  fifty-five  per  cent  in  the  first  planting, 
the  same  the  second  and  third.  In  the  last  planting,  owing  to  the  warm, 
moist  weather  condition  during  August  and  September  (which  was  respon- 
sible for  so  much  of  the  ear  rots  this  year)  you  will  note  that  the  corn 
grown  from  the  infected  seed  did  not  mature  and  was  much  more  susceptible 
to  ear  rots.  As  a  result  the  corn  grown  from  good  seed  gave  an  increase  of 
79.8  per  cent  of  sound  corn. 

This  graph  emphasizes  the  same  thing.  It  shows  the  reduction  in  per- 
centage of  sound  ears  in  the  last  planting  of  corn  grown  from  infected  seed. 
Corn  grown  from  disease-free  seed  (indicating)  is  not  nearly  so  susceptible 
to  changes'  in  environment.  On  the  other  hand  corn  grown  from  diseased 
seed  is  very  susceptible  to  unfavorable  conditions. 

The  disease-free  (indicating  on  the  next  slide)  has  about  the  same 
amount  of  rotten  corn  for  the  different  times  of  planting,  but  notice  the  in- 
fluence of  time  of  planting  on  the  amount  of  rotten  corn  where  diseased  seed 
was  used.  In  the  first  planting  there  is  thirty  per  cent  rotten  corn;  in  the 
second,  thirty-four;  and  in  the  third,  fifty.  Dr.  Hottes  will  emphasize  the 
importance  of  some  of  the  physiologic  factors  about  which  I  have  hinted. 

During  the  display  of  the  following  slides  I  would  like  to  emphasize 
some  of  the  important  genetic  factors  about  which  Mr.  Mann  spoke.  The 
ordinary  commercial  field  of  corn  is  a  mixture — a  conglomeration,  if  you 
please — of  a  great  number  of  types,  some  of  which  are  desirable,  but  most 
of  which  are  undesirable.  I  don't  know  how  to  explain  this  situation  to  you 
better  than  by  giving  an  analogy  in  livestock.  If  two  breds  of  hogs,  for  in- 
stance the  Duroc-Jerseys  and  Poland-Chinas  were  turned  into  the  woods  and 
allowed  to  breed  for  a  few  years,  after  which  Chester-Whites,  Hampshires, 
and  all  the  other  swine  breeds  were  included,  there  would  be  a  thorough  mix- 
ture after  a  few  years.  A  somewhat  similar  condition  exists  in  the  average 
commercial  corn  field  which  contains  literally  hundreds  of  different  types. 
When  these  different  types  are  separated  we  find  that  they  have  distinct 
individualities.  Some  of  the  types,  on  account  of  an  inherently  weak  or  in- 
efficient root  system,  always  wilt  the  first  hot  day  in  July.  Such  a  condition 
is  inherited  from  year  to  year.  It  is  something  with  which  every  farmer 
is  familiar.  Many  farmers  call  them  (indicating)  the  "white  flags"  as  they 
go  along  the  roads  in  August. 

Frequently,  the  inherent  weakness  of  the  corn  is  more  responsible  than 
the  dry  weather  for  the  resulting  injury  to  the  crop.  We  need  corn  that  will 
not  be  affected  by  every  unfavorable  weather  condition  that  obtains. 

Another  bad  feature  about  some  of  these  different  types  is  their  inabil- 
ity to  stand  up  (indicating).  You  can  always  be  sure  to  find  the  plants 
flat  on  the  ground  after  the  first  rain  and  wind  storm.  Here  (indicating) 
is  a  plat  grown  from  another  pure  (homozygous)  strain,  planted  side  by 
side  with  this  one  (indicating) — only  two  rows  away — planted  the  same 
time,  no  difference  in  soil  treatment,  wind  and  rain.  You  note  that  it  is 
standing  up  absolutely  straight  while  the  other  is  leaning  badly.  This  has 
happened  consistently  for  the  last  four  years. 

This  (indicating)  is  an  inbred  strain  we  found  to  be  comparatively  re- 
sistant to  the  different  root  and  stalk  rot  diseases  with  practically  no  smut 
or  rust.  The  leaves  are  deep  green  in  color  and  free  from  spottings  and 
streakings.  It  has  a  very  strong  and  efficient  root  system.  When  two  par- 
ticular strains  of  this  character  are  combined  we  get  what  you  see  here 
(indicating). 

In  this  case  (indicating)  we  have  two  very  undesirable  characters  com- 
bined. When  this  corn  first  came  up  there  was  a  full  stand  until  the  plants 
attained  a  height  of  six  inches.  Gradually,  however,  many  of  the  plants 
began  to  wilt  and  die  off.  Later  they  fell  over. 


53 


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The  same  thing  here  (indicating  the  next  slide).  In  that  plat  (indi- 
cating) there  is  a  yield  of  about  seventy  while  here  (pointing  to  a  plat 
grown  from  the  Fi  seed  of  two  good  homozygous  strains)  is  a  yield  of  about 
one  hundred  ten  bushels.  The  average  in  the  best  open  fertilized  seed  was 
about  seventy-five  bushels. 

There  (indicating  on  next  slide)  is  one  of  those  homozygous  strains 
that  has  proven  so  superior  over  a  period  of  four  years.  On  the  opposite 
side  may  be  seen  another  unusually  good  one  that  is  entirely  unrelated. 
When  these  are  combined  the  result  is  very  satisfactory,  as  may  be  judged 
by  the  plat  in  the  middle — practically  every  grain  of  corn  that  was  planted 
produced  a  stalk  with  an  ear  on  it  like  that  (indicating). 


A  very  susceptible   strain  of  corn  grown  adjacent  to  a  comparatively 

resistant  strain. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  gratifying  things  that  has  developed  in  these 
investigations.  When  this  project  is  finally  completed,  as  a  result  of  the 
cooperation  that  has  been  so  effective  heretofore,  the  improved  strains  of 
corn  will  mean  to  Illinois  farmers  exactly  what  Kanred  wheat  means  to  the 
wheat  farmers  of  Kansas.  We  fully  believe,  and  I  think  we  are  well  justi- 


55 

fled  in  so  believing,  that  we  shall  develop  eventually  a  corn  that  will  be 
practically  resistant  to  these  different  diseases. 

This  shows  another  view  of  the  ears  of  these  two  most  promising  homo- 
zygous  strains  and  their  first  generation  cross.  When  we  consider  the  fact 
that  practically  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  plants  produce  ears  like  that 
(indicating)  with  three  plants  per  hill,  you  can  readily  see  where  the  110- 
115  bushels  come  from. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     Is  that  field  weight  or  dry  weight? 

Prof.  HOLBERT:     Field  weight  would  put  it  up  to  about  125. 

Q.     What  do  you  call  that  corn? 

Prof.  HOLBERT:     We  haven't  named  it  yet. 

Q.     Do  you  have  to  combine  that  corn  every  year? 

Prof.  HOLBERT:  The  eventual  solution  probably  will  be  the  combin- 
ing of  eight  good  homozygous  strains  into  a  recreated,  and  greatly  improved 
variety.  Perhaps  in  ten  years  from  now  the  terms  that  I  have  been  using 
today  will  be  very  familiar  to  you,  and  some  of  the  methods  which  I  have 
described  in  the  last  few  slides  shall  have  been  adopted  generally.  It  looks 
as  though  that  was  "the  only  way  out"  eventually.  We  have  only  begun  the 
permanent  improvement  of  the  great  corn  crop;  we  have  just  nibbled  on  the 
surface  of  the  matter  of  corn  breeding,  but  we  have  nibbled  enough  to  know 
that  we  can  get  somewhere  if  we  follow  the  right  road. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     Do  the  nibbling  while  the  nibbling  is  good. 

Prof.  HOLBERT:  Yes,  sir.  In  the  meanwhile  the  data  which  we  have 
obtained  during  the  last  five  years  has  fully  justified  us  in  a  few  very  defi- 
nite recommendations; — one  of  which  is  the  profitableness  of  field  selection 
of  well  matured  ears  from  stalks  that  are  healthy  and  ripening  normally. 
That  is,  we  want  to  avoid  selecting  such  prematurely  dead  ears  (indicating) 
from  stalks  that  have  dried  up  on  account  of  a  rotted  condition  of  the  roots 
and  stalk.  During  the  last  few  years  those  two  facts  have  been  well  estab- 
lished. 

We  know  now  that  we  not  only  have  to  consider  the  matter  of  infection 
and  freedom  from  infection  out  also  the  matter  of  resistance  and  suscepti- 
bility. In  other  words  disease-free  seed  may  be  very  susceptible.  Disease- 
free  seed  of  a  very  susceptible  selection  or  variety  may  just  be  as  unsatis- 
factory from  the  standpoint  of  production  as  diseased  seed  of  a  less  sus- 
ceptible variety. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     That  is  unless  it  is  badly  diseased. 

Prof.  HOLBERT:  Yes,  unless  it  is  very  badly  diseased.  That  empha- 
sizes two  very  important  things.  One  is  a  good  field  selection  and  the  other 
is  the  point  which  Mr.  Mosher  has  mentioned,  that  is  the  selection  of  a  type 
which  we  have  found  to  be  associated  more  or  less  with  resistance.  The 
selection  of  the  type  is  next  followed  by  the  third  point  which  Mr.  Mosher 
mentioned,  namely  the  germination  of  the  seed  corn.  I  will  not  dwell  on 
this  point  for  it  has  been  emphasized  previously.  But  I  do  want  to  empha- 
size it  again  so  that  you  may  know  we  still  believe  in  it  and  practice  it. 

Here  is  shown  some  samples  from  the  germinator.  This  is  a  disease-free 
seedling  (indicating).  You  will  note  the  vigorous  root  development  and  the 
clean,  healthy  condition  of  the  interior  of  the  "embryo  portion."  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  screen  is  a  diseased  seedling  (indicating  the  rotted  con- 
dition of  the  seedling).  That  may  or  may  not  indicate  infection,  but  as  far 
as  we  know  it  practically  always  indicates  susceptibility. 

Another  very  important  factor  to  consider  in  the  reading  of  the  germin- 
ator is  the  matter  of  vigor.  There  are  two  seedlings,  both  of  which  are  dis- 
ease-free. However,  one  is  vigorous  while  the  other  is  badly  lacking  in  this 
respect.  Many  times  the  difference  in  yield  between  the  corn  grown  from 
these  two  types  of  seedlings  would  average  from  thirty  to  fifty  percent.  This 
(pointing  to  the  vigorous  one)  is  the  type  towards  which  we  must  select. 

During  the  last  six  years  we  have  been  using  these  three  recommenda- 
tions; namely,  FIELD  SELECTION.  PHYSICAL  SELECTION,  and  GERM- 


56 


INATOR    SELECTION,    with    very 
satisfactory    results.      This     (indi- 
cating)   shows  a  field  grown  from 
seed    that    has    been    selected    and 
prepared     in    that    way    for    four 
years.       We     feel     confident     that 
you    will    all    be    well    repaid    by 
following    these    recommendations. 
Meanwhile,    we   hope    you    will    go 
home   and   consider   a   few   of  the 
salient   features   about   corn   breed- 
ing about  which  I  spoke. 
I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 
PRESIDENT     MANN:       One    of 
the  hard  things  in  human  life  is  to 
get  rid  of  the  carbon  dioxide,  and 
it's  a  hard  thing  for  plants  to  get 
rid  of  it  fast  enough.     They  say  if 
you  hold  your  breath  long  enough 
the   carbon-dioxide   will   change   to 
alcohol    in    your    blood    and    cause 
intoxication.      This    same    carbon- 
dioxide  as  it  floats  in  the  air  comes 
in   contact  with   some  of  the  corn 
leaves,  mixes  up  and  makes  sugar. 
If    you    haven't    learned    anything 
else,  I  think  you  will  begin  to  learn 
something    about    the    complexities 
of  corn  plants. 

Agriculture  has  another  thing  to 
congratulate  itself  on  in  this  state, 
and  that  is  that  the  University 
trustees  have  given  to  agriculture 
a  man  who  is  the  most  efficient, 
perhaps,  in  the  world,  and  turned 
him  over  to  agriculture,  to  study 
these  plants  for  us.  We  don't  know 
much  about  plants;  we  don't  know 
much  about  their  construction;  we 
don't  know  much  about  their  habits 
and  their  idiosyncrasies.  We  are 
just  beginning  to  learn  something 
about  them.  That  man  the  Uni- 
versity turned  over  to  agriculture 
is  Dr.  Hottes.  He  is  going  to  do 
wonderful  things  foT*agriculture  in 
the  next  few  years,  and  perhaps 
less.^  Dr.  Hottes  will  now  address 
you. 


57 


PHYSIOLOGY  OF  GERMINATION. 

(Dr.  Chas.  F.  Hottes.) 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FRIENDS:  Agronomists,  botanists  and  geneticists  have 
by  no  means  been  inactive.  They  have  used  the  same  fundamental 
bases  for  their  studies  that  you  today  have  considered,  and  yet  the 
results  of  approximately  sixty  years  of  their  labor  gives  to  us  little 
upon  which  we  can  build.  The  reason  for  this  is  apparent,  especial- 
ly after  the  brief  discussion  that  I  shall  be  able  to  give  to  you  this 
afternoon.  In  the  first  place,  instead  of  setting  as  the  goal  the 
corn  plant,  they  have  worked  and  thought  only  of  the  individual  fields 
of  agronomy,  botany  and  genetics.  We  have  a  common  interest,  and  having 
a  common  interest  we  must  work  together.  We  must  work  shoulder  to 
shoulder  to  achieve  a  common  end.  The  materials  that  we  have  are  simply 

crude  blocks  with  which  to  build.  As  yet  we 
cannot  construct  the  structure,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  we  have  not  the  fundamental  plan 
that  shall  guide  us  in  its  construction.  Many  of 
the  blocks  are  missing;  many  of  the  blocks 
have  never  been  constructed,  and  it  should  be 
our  duty  to  work  together  now  with  the  hope 
and  the  endeavor  of  achieving  results  that  are 
definitely  correlated  and  usable. 

The  plant  is  a  most  effective  machine.  It 
does  that  which  Mr.  Mann  has  repeatedly 
referred  to  today — it  abstracts  from  the  atmo- 
sphere the  gases,  it  abstracts  from  the  soil  the 
water  and  the  mineral — nutriments  and  mate- 
rials that  are  absolutely  different  from  those 
that  course  through  its  own  body,  or  those 
that  course  through  our  bodies,  which  are  after 
all,  the  same  as  those  that  course  through  the 
plant  bodies.  They  are  entirely  different,  as  I 
say,  and  yet  their  origin  is  from  nature  itself, 
from  physical  nature.  It  is  the  green  plant, 
and  the  green  plant  only,  that  is  capable  of 
utilizing  the  materials  of  air  and  of  soil  and  by 
means  of  the  energy  of  the  sun  convert  these 
materials  into  those  organic  compounds  that 
you  and  I  consume  as  food,  and  that  every  plant 
consumes  as  food. 

In  our  construction  of  the  plant  we  must 
consider  it  from  two  points  of  view.  These  have  oftentimes — in  fact,  too 
often — been  considered  from  separate  points  of  view  and  kept  apart. 
We  must  consider  them  as  united,  simply  as  two  different  parts  of  the  same 
plant,  working  in  perfect  co-ordination  and  working  towards  a  common  end. 
The  life  cycle  of  a  plant  presents  to  us  two  widely  different,  though 
definitely  correlated  phases;  namely,  nutrition  and  reproduction.  The  former 
largely  deals  with  the  vegetative  processes — food  production,  and  has  as  its 
chief  purpose  the  maintenance  of  the  individual.  The  latter  deals  with  the 
reproductive  processes — seed  production,  and  has  as  its  chief  purpose  the 
perpetuation  of  the  race  through  generation.  In  our  seed  studies  we  have 
too  long  considered  nutrition  and  reproduction  as  separate  subjects,  and  the 
voluminous  and  important  literature  in  these  respective  fields  has  failed  to 
furnish  us  with  the  information  we  most  need.  The  investigations  have 
proceeded  without  unity  of  purpose,  and,  consequently,  lack  co-ordination 
and  usefulness  in  application.  We  have  had  the  stones  for  an  imposing 
structure  cut  and  delivered,  but  they  have  come  from  many  sources  and 
the  artisans  that  cut  them  have  been  unmindful  of  the  details  of  the 
structure  as  a  whole  or  of  the  interdependence  of  its  parts. 

GERMINATION    TEST    NOT    SUFFICIENT. 

We  should  no  longer  feel  content  with  a  simple  viability  test.     Percent 
of  germination  is  not  necessarily  a  measure  of  fitness  of  the  seed  for  field 


Dr.  Chas.  F.  Hottes. 


58 


purposes.  The  Illinois  utility  score  card  recognizes  that,  and  the  Illinois 
farmers  have  proven  it  by  extensive  tests.  In  the  choice  of  seed  we  must 
direct  our  attention  to  its  genetic  constitution  and  its  physiological  condi- 
tions during  the  period  of  its  development,  its  dormancy,  and  its  several 
phases  in  the  germinative  process.  The  influence  of  nutrition,  of  water,  and 


FIG.  I. — Types  of  smooth,  medium  rough,  and  rough  corn.    Kernels  from  these 
ears  are  shown  in  Figure  II,  A,  B  and  C,  respectively. 

of  the  physical  agents,  as  temperature,  etc.,  profoundly  affect  the.  delicate 
organization  and  predetermine  in  large  measure  the  nature  of  the  crop  and 
the  yield. 

In  recent  years  we  have  paid  considerable  attention   to  experimental 
breeding  of  our  seed  crops,  and  it  Is  right  that  we  should.     On  the  other 


59 

hand,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  external  factors  of  soil  heterogeneity, 
water  and  temperature  variations  and  extremes,  light,  etc.,  which  affect  by 
Increased  or  diminished  nutrition  the  inherent  tendencies  of  the  plant.  The 
high  oil  and  high  protein  corn  strains,  so  carefully  selected  and  maintained 
by  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  show  marked  seasonal 
changes,  plus  and  minus,  due  to  the  effect  of  the  environment  at  the  sus- 
ceptible period  of  development,  modifying  or  conditioning  the  hereditary 
determiners.  This  becomes  all  the  more  clear  when  we  fully  realize  the 
complicated  structure  and  remarkable  adaptive  powers  of  the  living  substance. 
The  green  plant  is  built  up  of  innumerable  cells  grouped  into  tissues 
and  organs  for  the  performance  of  specific  functions.  Each  cell  consists  of  a 
bit  of  differentiated  protoplasm,  which,  with  Huxley,  we  may  call  the 
"physical  basis  of  life."  It  is  that  substance  alone  that  through  distinctive 
functional  processes  nourishes  itself,  respires,  moves  and  grows,  adjusts 
itself  in  a  definite  manner  to  stimuli  from  the  external  world  and,  finally, 
maintains  the  uninterrupted  succession  of  life  through  generation.  It  cannot 
take  its  origin  from  the  physical  world,  but  is  increased  in  quantity  and 
reproduced  through  properties  it  alone  possesses.  We  may  follow  it  in 
continuity  from  grandparent  to  parent,  to  offspring.  It  carries  potentially 
the  hereditary  factors  that  a  long  line  of  descent  has  given  it,  and  these 
are  activated  or  inhabited  by  the  internal  conditions  prevailing  at  a  given 
stage  of  development  or  by  the  environment  acting  upon  its  delicately 
organized  substance.  A  continuous  cycle  of  chemical  and  physical  inter- 
actions are  constantly  taking  place  between  the  living  cells  and  the  physical 
world.  Without  cease  certain  substances — carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  magne- 
sium, nitrogen,  iron,  etc. — totally  different  from  its  own  body,  enter  the 
organism  and,  in  an  endless  round  of  cellular  chemical  activity  lose  their 
identity.  They  pass  through  a  series  of  chemical  combinations  of  increasing 
complexity,  and  finally  may  appear  as  part  of  the  living  substance.  But 
the  organic  substances  produced,  the  protoplasm  itself,  are  unstable.  They 
are  constantly  being  broken  down  with  a  liberation  of  energy  and  the  waste 
products  return  to  inorganic  nature.  The  living  substance  of  our  growing 
crops  is  in  such  a  state  of  incessant  change,  a  constant  transformation  and 
transfer  of  energy  is  going  on,  it  is  in  statical  equilibrium  only  when  it  is 
dead.  "As  no  man,"  says  Huxley,  "fording  a  swift  stream  can  dip  his  foot 
twice  into  the  same  water,  so  no  man  can  with  exactness  affirm  of  anything 
in  the  sensible  world  that  it  is.  As  he  utters  the  words — nay,  as  he  thinks 
them,  the  predicate  ceases  to  be  applicable;  the  present  has  become  the 
past;  the  'is'  should  be  'was.'  And,  the  more  we  learn  of  the  nature  of 
things,  the  more  evident  is  it  that  what  we  call  rest  is  only  unperceived 
activity;  that  seeming  peace  is  silent  but  strenuous  battle.  In  every  part,  at 
every  moment,  the  state  of  the  cosmos  is  the  expression  of  a  transitory 
adjustment  of  contending  forces;  a  scene  of  strife,  in  which  all  the  combat- 
ants fall  in  turn." 

SOIL   AND    CLIMATE   INFLUENCE. 

With  an  organization  so  delicately  adjusted  and  so  responsive  to  external 
conditions,  it  is  apparent  that  differences  in  soil  and  climate  will  molify 
the  vegetative  or  nutritive  functions  and  through  them  decrease  the  yield 
and  change  the  nature  of  the  progeny. 

This  progeny,  the  seed,  is  in  corn  or  wheat  composed  of  embryo  and 
endosperm.  The  embryo  results  from  the  union  of  two  cells,  male  and 
female,  brought  together  through  pollination  and  fertilization.  By  this 
union  the  two  bits  of  protoplasm  from  different  parents  and,  hence  of  dif- 
ferent ancestral  history,  will  determine  the  gemetic  constitution  of  the 
embryo  that  at  once  begins  to  form  through  increase  in  the  number  of  cells 
by  division.  Development  proceeds  to  a  definite  stage  and  stops.  The  seed 
passes  through  the  phases  of  ripening  and  remains  dormant  until  favorable 
conditions  for  growth  are  given  it. 

The  endosperm  results  from  the  union  of  three  cells,  two  of  maternal 
and  one  of  paternal  origin.  The  single  cell  thus  formed  divides  and  forms 
the  storage  tissue  which  surrounds  to  greater  or  less  degree  the  embryo. 
The  cells  comprising  the  endosperm  are  filled  with  sugar,  oil,  starch,  proteins, 


•o 
c 
o. 


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C  to 
V  <o 

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Is 

oJ=> 


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61 

etc.,  food  products  produced  during  the  vegetative  phase  of  the  mother  plant 
and  now  stored  in  proximity  to  the  embryo  for  its  use  in  the  early  stages 
of  germination  and  growth.  The  amount  and  nature  of  the  food  present  in 
the  endosperm  is  dependent  on  a  number  of  factors,  such  as  the  vigor  of 
the  mother  plant,  the  water  and  soil  nutrients  available,  temperature,  etc. 
The  amount  of  organic  material  produced  by  the  mother  plant  and  drawn 
from  her  by  the  developing  embryo  and  endosperm  is  too  well  known  by  the 
farmer  to  need  further  discussion.  The  weight  of  his  cereal  crop  is  essen- 
tially the  weight  of  the  food  supplied  by  her,  or  rather  drawn  from  her. 
The  relation  of  the  developing  embryo  and  endosperm  to  the  mother  plant 
is  not  without  interest.  The  relation  is  one  of  host  and  parasite  and  results 
in  a  great  weakening,  or  even  the  death  of  the  plant  through  exhaustion. 
The  latter  is  well  illustrated  by  the  century  plant.  Its  vegetative  phase 
extends  over  a  period  of  ten  to  fifteen  years.  During  this  period  the  plant 
elaborates  from  the  inorganic  materials  offered  by  its  environment,  the 
organic  food  materials  which  it  stores  in  its  fleshy  leaves.  These  leaves  in 
vigorous  specimens  may  be  six  feet  in  length,  nearly  a  foot  in  width,  and 
four  inches  in  thickness.  They  represent  the  stored  materials  of  the  whole 
vegetative  period  of  the  plant.  When  the  reproductive  period  sets  in,  the 
bud  in  the  center  of  the  rosette  grows  into  an  enormous  flower  stalk  four 
or  more  inches  in  diameter,  twenty  feet  or  more  in  height,  and  branching 
at  the  top.  Hundreds  of  flowers  develop,  and  seeds  with  organic  material 
stored,  mature.  In  marked  contrast  stand  these  two  phases.  In  a  few 
weeks  the  organic  material  slowly  accumulated  during  ten  or  more  years 
of  vegetative  life  is  rapidly  consumed  in  the  development  of  the  flower  stalk 
or  completely  withdrawn  by  the  parasitic  nature  of  the  developing  seeds. 


FIG.   III. — Germination  of  corn  harvested  in   the  milk  stage 
and  dried  before  testing. 


62 

The  large  fleshy  leaves  lie  as  shrunken  leathery  strips  at  the  base  of  the 
stalk.  The  mother  plant  is  dead.  The  blooming  period  of  the  nasturtium 
and  pansy  is  prolonged  by  cutting  the  flowers,  thus  preventing  the  weakening 
of  the  plant  through  seed  parasitism.  All  this  is  not  without  its  lesson 
in  modern  field  practice.  The  farmer  no  longer  selects  his  seed  corn  from  a 
plant  that  has  not  been  able  to  survive  the  need  of  its  progeny  for  organic 
materials.  Such  a  plant  is  either  constitutionally  weak  or  diseased.  Mature 
ears  on  a  green  stalk  show  vegetative  strength  and,  usually,  freedom  from 
disease  which  presage  embryo  vigor  and  proper  food  reserve. 

Embryo  and  endosperms  are  enveloped  by  the  two  seed  coats  to  which, 
in  our  cereals,  the  wall  of  the  ovary  is  added.  These  coats  when  intact 
offer  an  effective  protection  against  mechanical  injury  and  fungus  attack. 
The  organic  materials  of  the  endosperm  furnish  ideal  foods  for  a  number  of 
the  fungi  causing  severe  injury  or  death  to  very  young  seedlings.  Corn 
with  distinctly  chaffy  indentation  is  especially  prone  to  fungous  attack. 
(Figures  1  and  2.)  There  are  several  reasons  for  this  and  the  discrimination 
against  this  character  in  the  Utility  Score  Card  is,  in  my  opinion,  justifiable. 
Even  in  the  case  of  some  strains  «of  corn  where  it  is  apparently  an  inherited 
character,  it  is  objectionable  for  the  reason  that  the  coats  are  there  very 
easily  injured,  resulting  in  fungous  infection,  with  the  consequent  decrease 
in  vigor  to  the  germ  or  even  early  death.  Kernels  of  this  nature  usually 
have  a  very  starchy  endosperm,  the  result  of  strain  or  inheritance,  or  because 
they  are  imperfectly  matured.  In  either  case  they  are  more  likely  to  fungus 
attack  than  are  kernels  with  a  larger  quantity  of  horny  endosperm.  In  this 
connection  corn  harvested  in  different  stages  of  maturity;  namely,  milk, 
dent,  and  mature,  shows  interesting  results.  Soaked  in  water  the  amount 
of  material  leached  increases  from  the  mature,  where  it  is  very  slight,  to 
the  milk  stage,  where  it  is  very  marked.  On  the  germinator  the  sprouts 
of  the  mature  corn  are  vigorous,  the  percent  germinating  high,  and  little 
or  no  fungus  develops.  In  the  milk  stage  the  germination  under  similar 
conditions  is  more  rapid — largely  because  of  rapid  water  absorption — the 
sprouts  are  slender  and  weak,  the  percent  germinating  low,  and  fungus 
abundant.  (Pig.  Ill,  IV,  V.) 

NEED   AND   FUNCTION    OF   WATER. 

The  living  substance  can  manifest  its  properties  and  perform  its  func- 
tions only  in  the  presence  of  water.  This  plays  an  important  role  in  all 
vital  activities  and  enters  into  the  physical-chemical  structure  of  the  proto- 
plasm. As  the  most  universal  solvent  in  nature,  it  carries  to  the  cell  the 
materials  for  elaboration  and  eliminates  from  the  cell  the  products  of 
destructive  metabolism.  It  is  the  vehicle  in  which  are  carried  the  materials 
from  the  mother  plant  to  the  developing  seed.  The  quantity  of  water  present 
in  a  member  of  an  organ  roughly  determines  its  state  or  phase  of  vital 
activity.  In  active  life  the  quantity  varies  from  40  to  98  percent.  In  the 
air-dry  seed,  as  you  know  from  the  tables  used  in  the  commercial  grading 
of  grain,  it  is  much  lower.  In  fact,  it  may  be  reduced  in  some  seeds  to 
2  percent  or  lower  without  causing  death,  although  not  without  injury.  The 
rapid  increase,  by  small  quantities  of  water,  in  the  vital  activities  as 
measured  by  the  respiratory  process  is  shown  by  the  figures  below: 

Respiration  of  Haynes  Bluestem  wheat,  incubated  at  100 °F.  for  four 
days.  (After  Bailey  and  Gurjar.) 

Moisture  Carbon    dioxide    in    milligrams    respired 

PerCent.  in  24  hours  for  each  100  grams 

of  dry  matter. 

12.50  0.54 

13.93  0.65 

14.78  0.86 

15.42  1.62 

16.08  2.88 

16.65  6.86 

17.07  11.72 

Stored  grain  of  relatively  high  water  content  still  further  increases  the 
water  present  through  the  metabolic  water  from  the  respiratory  process. 
This  results  in  a  lowering  of  vitality,  fungous  attack,  and  ultimately  death. 
The  losses  incident  to  the  transportation  and  storage  of  grain  are  avoidable 


if  our  present  system  of  grain  grading  is  strictly  followed.  So,  too,  the 
vitality  and  vigor  of  our  seeds  can  be  preserved  by  careful  attention  to  their 
water  content. 

The  custom,  still  prevalent  among  our  Indians  of  the  southwest,  of 
drying  their  seed  corn  on  the  pueblo  roof  before  storing  it,  is  scientifically 
correct.  We  are  apt,  however,  under  more  modern  conditions  to  carry  the 
drying  process  too  far.  Grade  one  for  storage  purposes  of  commercial  grain 
is  unquestionably  the  best.  Experiments  in  the  laboratory  and  field  have 
shown,  however,  that  seed  corn  with  a  moisture  content  equivalent  to  grade 
one  has  suffered  in  vitality.  The  grades  one  to  commercial  planted  in  con- 
tiguous rows  in  the  field  show  that  a  water  content  equivalent  to  grade  three 
is  the  most  favorable.  In  rate  of  growth,  vigor  of  stalk,  and  yield  it  is 
superior  to  the  others. 


FIG.  IV. — Germination  of  corn  harvested  in  the  Dent  stage 
and  dried  before  testing. 

The  quantity  of  water  present  in  the  protoplasm  roughly  determines  the 
state  or  phase  of  vital  activity,  and  markedly  changes  its  resistance  to  high 
and  low  temperatures,  and  chemical  agents.  The  knowledge  of  this  relation 
is  of  inestimable  value  to  man.  It  places  in  his  hands  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tive means  of  destroying,  or  of  saving  life.  The  successful  destruction  of 
the  germs  of  infectious  diseases  in  our  living  rooms  by  fumigation  requires 
careful  attention  to  the  water  content  of  the  air  during  fumigation.  As  it 
is  ordinarily  practiced,  the  effect  of  fumigation  is  largely  a  moral  one.  In 
the  dry  atmosphere  of  our  modern  homes  the  water  content  of  the  protoplasm 


64 

of  micro-organisms  is  low  and  its  vital  activities  greatly  reduced.  In  this 
condition  the  resistance  of  the  organism  to  chemical  agents  is  extremely 
high.  In  the  presence  of  atmospheric  moisture  the  protoplasm  rapidly 
absorbs  water,  its  vital  activity,  as  we  have  already  noted,  rapidly  increases, 
and  it  becomes  extremely  sensitive  to  the  destructive  agent.  In  fumigation 
to  destroy  disease  germs  we  must  maintain  a  high  humidity  for  effective 
destruction;  conversely,  in  the  fumigation  of  seed  infested  with  insect  life 
the  water  content  of  the  seed  must  not  be  too  high  if  we  wish  to  preserve 
its  germinative  power. 

HIGH   TEMPERATURES   KILL  DISEASES. 

Treatment  of  seed  to  high  temperatures  has  recently  been  advocated'  for 
the  killing  of  disease  organisms  that  infest  it.  This  treatment,  if  effective, 
depends  on  the  difference  in  resistance  of  host  and  parasite  to  high  tem- 
peratures. It  is  one,  I  am  certain,  in  which  the  water  relation  must  receive 
careful  attention  if  the  germinative  power  and  seedling  vigor  is  to  be  pre- 
served. Waggoner  in  a  series  of  careful  experiments  on  radish  seeds  found 
that  with  an  initial  water  content  of  45  per  cent  and  above,  all  seeds  are 
killed  at  140 °F.  If  the  water  content  of  the  seed'  be  decreased  before  its 
subjection  to  the  higher  temperature,  the  per  cent  of  germination  is  in- 
creased, that  is,  the  death  point  is  shifted  higher.  For  example,  a  change 
in  the  water  content  of  a  sample  from  45  to  30  per  cent  shifts  the  death  point 
from  140°F  to  149°F.  Air-dry  seeds  of  approximately  four  per  cent  water 
content,  germinate  normally  after  heating  to  167°F  for  half  an  hour,  and  are 
killed  between  204°F  and  212°F.  Seeds  from  similar  samples  carefully  dried 
until  only  four-tenths  of  one  per  cent  of  water  is  present  at  the  time  of  treat- 
ment, give  a  normal  germination  after  treatment  at  212° F,  and  are  killed 
between  253.4  and  257°F.  We  find'  that  as  the  water  content  increases  from 
four-tenths  of  one  per  cent  to  45  per  cent  the  maximum  temperature  at  which 
a  normal  per  cent  of  germination  takes  place,  drops  from  212°F  to  below 
122°F,  and  the  lethal  temperature  falls  from  between  253.4-257°F  to 
122-140  °F. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  exposure  to  higher  temperatures 
retards  germination,  and,  in  seeds  of  medium  water  content,  affects  the 
vigor  of  the  seedling.  The  retardation  in  the  germination  of  radish  seed 
differing  in  water  content  when  heated  at  176°  F.  for  thirty  minutes,  follows: 

Water  content  of  seeds  when  heated.  4%          9%        14%        18%        Check  in 

treatment 

Per  cent  germinating   1st  day 6              0.6  0.  0.  30 

Per  cent  germinating     2d  day 21              5.4  0.  0.  45 

Per  cent  germinating     3d  day 35  17.0  7.4  0.  14 

Per. cent  germinating  4th  day 17  24.2  11.0  0.  3 

Per  cent  germinating  5th  day 3  10.0  6.0  0.  2 

Per  cent  germinating  6th  day 1              3.6  2.2  0.  1 

Per  cent  germinating  7th  day 0              0.  .4  0.  0 

Total     per    cent    germinating 83  60.8       27.0  0.  95 

The  difference  in  injury  resulting  from  treatment  to  temperatures  below 
freezing  of  soaked  and  dry  grains  is  of  interest.  The  following  varieties 
of  wheat:  Illinois  No.  1,  spring  bearded;  Marquis,  spring  smooth;  Dawson's 
Golden  Chaff,  winter  bearded;  Turkey  Red,  winter  bearded,  and  Red  Cross, 
winter  smooth,  in  dry  and  swollen  conditions,  were  treated  for  different 
intervals  of  time  to  a  temperature  of  10°F. 

The  air-dry  grain  subjected'  for  ninety  hours  to  a  temperature  of  10°F 
and  then  placed  in  the  germinator  at  59°F  germinates  Illinois  No.  1  93%, 
Marquis  89%,  Red  Cross  85%,  Dawson's  Golden  Chaff  71%,  Turkey  Red  93%. 
(These  figures  are  slightly  below  the  germination  of  the  untreated  samples.) 
Similar  samples  soaked  in  water  for  six  hours  and  then  exposed  for  seventy- 
five  hours  to  a  temperature  of  10 °F  germinate  Illinois  No.  1  25%,  Marquis 
10%,  Dawson's  Golden  Chaff  1%,  Turkey  Red  3%,  Red  Cross  4%.  The  same 
varieties  soaked  in  water  for  three  hours  and  then  exposed  to  a  temperature 
of  10.4°  F.  for  forty  hours,  show  a  markedly  decreased  germination.  Our  re- 
sults as  a  whole  show  a  marked  difference  in  resistance  to  low  temperatures, 
especially  when  the  water  content  of  the  seed  is  high.  The  ability  to  with- 


65 


stand  the  effects  of  alternate  freezing  and  thawing,  more  particularly  rapid 
thawing,  is  definitely  associated  with  the  protoplasmic  constitution  of  certain 
varieties. 

The  studies  of  Dawson  and  Malsbury  in  our  laboratories,  bring  out  a 
number  of  interesting  points  regarding  the  optimal  temperature  for  wheat 
varieties.  Six  varieties  of  wheat — Marquis,  Illinois  No.  1,  Red  Cross,  Med- 
iterranean, Illini  Chief  and  Turkey  Red  were  used.  At  a  temperature  of  77°F 
Red  Cross  produced  very  vigorous  seedlings  while  those  of  Turkey  Red  were 


FIG.  V. — Germination  of  corn  harvested  in  the  mature  stage 
and  dried  before  testing. 

very  weak.  In  per  cent  germinating  Marquis,  Illinois  No.  1  and  Red  Cross 
were  in  the  lead.  At  59°P  Marquis,  Illinois  No.  1  and  Red  Cross  are  still 
leading,  and  the -seedlings  are  more  vigorous  than  at  77°  F.  Turkey  Red  does 
not  do  so  well  at  this  temperature.  At  50°F  Red  Cross  is  the  only  one  that 
produced  seedlings  comparable  in  vigor  to  those  at  higher  temperatures. 

The  agronomist  and  the  farmer  naturally  are  most  interested  in  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  the  harvest.  Since  this  is  determined  in  no  small 
degree  by  the  constitution  of  the  seed — genetical  and  physiological — seed 
studies  should  and  do  receive  our  first  attention. 

"The  thorns  which  I  have  reaped  are  of  a  tree 

I  planted — they  have  torn  me — and  I  bleed, 

I  should  have  known  what  fruit  would  spring  from  such  a  seed." 


66 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     Are  there  any  questions  now? 

Mr.  THOMPSON:  Do  I  understand  the  maintenance  of  constant  tem- 
perature at  the  same  humidity  would  tend  to  the  highest  per  cent  germina- 
tion and  the  highest  vitality  of  the  seed? 

Dr.  HOTTES:     Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  THOMPSON:  Is  that  condition  desirable  in  the  treatment  of  seed 
during  the  dormant  period? 

Dr.  HOTTES:     Yes. 

Mr.  THOMPSON:  In  carrying  that  on  would  the  seed  be  apt  to  lose 
its  resistance  in  the  second  germination? 

Dr.  HOTTES:  No,  because  we  are  not  allowing  it  to  go  too  far  here. 
We  must  not  go  beyond  approximately  twelve  per  cent.  The  most  certain 
measure  of  life  activity  that  we  have  is  the  respiration  process.  You  know 
that  when  you  exercise  violently  you  breathe  more  rapidly.  The  plant 
breathes  all  the  time. 

Q.  Your  recommendation  to  the  farmer  is  to  build  a  seed  storage  plant 
to  maintain  a  constant  condition  of  moisture? 

Dr.  HOTTES:  No,  not  necessarily  a  constant  condition,  but  what  we 
want  to  do  is  to  get  some  method  by  which  we  will  do  our  drying  in  such 
a  way  that  we  will  not  overdry  or  allow  an  over  abundance  of  moisture  to 
remain.  Now  it  is  ordinarily  easy  to  do  that  under  ordinary  atmospheric 
conditions.  If  you  keep  the  atmosphere  humidity  within  certain  limits  the 
corn  will  not  take  up  too  much  or  lose  too  much  moisture. 

Q.    In  order  to  do  that  would  you  have  to  have  some  artificial  heat? 

Dr.  HOTTES:  No,  no.  That  depends,  of  course,  on  your  weather  con- 
ditions. Now  we  could  have  artificial  heat  without  any  injury  if  we  could 
regulate  the  temperature,  and  especially  regulate  the  circulation  of  the  air. 

Here  is  another  point.  Be  very  careful  of  moist  heat.  Circulating  moist 
heat  is  very  effective  in  destruction. 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  life  of  a  seed  that  has  properly  matured  and 
dried  can  be  prolonged  by  keeping  it  in  cold  storage  at  an  equal  low  tem- 
perature? 

Dr.  HOTTES:  I  think  that  that  may  be  helpful,  but  on  the  other  hand 
it  may  not  necessarily  be  extremely  effective,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
your  corn  plant  is  a  plant  that  is  not  accustomed  to  the  lower  temperatures 
as  much  as  it  is  to  the  higher  temperatures  and  a  prolonged  chilling  may 
have  the  same  effect  as  a  sudden  rapid  drop.  In  other  words  in  all  of  our 
work  we  have  found  that  if  we  heat  long  it  is  the  same  thing  as  if  we  heat 
distinctly  higher  for  a  short  period,  or  if  we  exposed  it  for  a  long  time  to 
a  low  temperature  it  has  the  same  effect  as  a  short  time  to  a  still  lower 
temperature. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  It  will  withstand  a  low  temperature  if  you  have 
the  seed  dry  enough. 

Dr.  HOTTES:     Yes,  it  will  withstand  the  temperature  of  liquid  air. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:     You  get  less  respiration  with  low  temperature. 

Q.     Have  you  made  any  studies  of  soy  beans? 

Dr.  HOTTES:  We  are  now  testing  some  twenty-two  varieties  of  soy 
beans.  We  are  getting  some  interesting  results,  but  I  will  give  you  only  one 
of  them,  to  give  you  an  illustration  of  what  this  means.  For  instance  some 
of  our  soy  beans  will  take  up  the  amount  of  water  in  two  hours  that  others 
will  take  four  days  to  take  up.  Another  thing  we  have  found  is  that  some 
of  the  varieties  are  capable  of  piercing  through  a  crust  that  other  varieties 
are  never  able  to  come  through.  Those  things  we  are  going  into  now,  but 
it  is  too  early  to  make  any  definite  statements  on  that  line. 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  a  question  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  Utility 
Score  Card  in  judging  exhibits  of  the  county  institute.  I  suppose  that  a 
great  many  institutes  conduct  exhibits  in  connection  with  the  institute 
work.  We  attempted  to  use  a  Utility  Score  Card  in  our  county  a  year  ago, 
but  it  did  not  give  very  much  satisfaction  on  account  of  the  inability  to 
apply  the  germination  test.  If  we  can't  use  the  germination  test,  can  we 
in  fairness  use  the  Utility  Score  Card,  inasmuch  as  35  percent  of  the  score 
depends  on  the  germination  test?  They  attempted  that  in  1921  in  Ogle 


67 

County,  attempted  to  judge  it  by  inspection  without  the  germination  test, 
and  it  did  not  give  satisfaction. 

PRESIDENT   MANN:     Mr.  Campbell  will  answer  your  question. 

Mr.  CAMPBELL:  In  Knox  County,  where  the  utility  corn  test  was 
started,  we,  too,  have  not  been  able  to  get  them  to  furnish  the  corn  in  time 
to  make  the  germination  test,  therefore  we  had  to  make  it  more  a  question 
of  judgment  than  anything  else.  We  gave  the  smooth  corn  the  decision  over 
the  rough  corn.  In  that  we  used  the  Utility  Score  Card,  but  the  Illinois 
Corn  Growers  Association  has  placed  Knox  County  and  Warren  County  in 
the  upper  district,  instead  of  in  the  central  district,  and  that  changes  the 
length  of  the  corn  to  eight  and  a  half  inches,  instead  of  nine  and  a  half,  so 
we  have  just  as  good  a  chance  as  has  Henry  County.  We  think  that  an 
oily  appearing  corn  that  lacks  the  exterior  cells  where  disease  germs  accu- 
mulate is  better  than  the  other,  and  that  is  the  way  we  get  at  it.  We  take 
the  Utility  Score  Card  and  use  it  right  down  until  we  get  to  the  germination 
test,  then  we  use  our  best  judgment. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  it  was  Abraham  Lincoln  who  said  that 
the  Lord  must  have  loved  poor  people,  because  he  made  so  many  of  them, 
and  I  think  the  same  idea,  the  same  reason  enters  into  the  production  of 
corn.  There  are  just  two  things  we  want  in  corn — one  is  yield  and  the 
other  is  quality,  and  quality  is  only  one  thing  and  that  is  maturity.  Every 
point  on  a  Utility  Score  Card  that  has  reference  to  a  certain  thing  ultimately 
comes  right  down  to  the  maturity  of  the  corn,  whether  it  is  for  seed,  sale 
or  feed.  Its  quality  is  represented  by  its  ability  to  mature,  and  hence  the 
utility  corn  is  that  corn  which  is  most  likely  to  mature.  For  thirty  years 
many  of  you  know  I  have  written  and  spoken  against  this  idea  of  getting  a 
uniform,  beautiful  show  corn  for  actual  production.  Now  we  are  getting 
back  to  the  same  old  thing,  and  that  is  just  common  corn  and  the  most  of 
it.  That  is  what  we  want.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  CAMPBELL:  May  I  also  state  that  we  do  not  think  about  the 
corn  crop  when  we  are  judging  it,  but  we  do  think  about  and  keep  in  our 
minds  all  the  time,  "Will  this  corn  produce,  and  how  much  will  it  produce?" 
Then  we  trust  for  the  fields  to  do  the  balance. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  Dr.  Hottes'  explanation  of  the  danger 
of  the  very  deeply  indented  corn  is  mighty  good.  Maturity  means  the  con- 
version of  sugars  into  starches  and  oils.  That  is  all  it  means.  Plant  sugars 
are  easily  destroyed  by  freezing  or  high  temperatures,  or  in  many  ways. 
If  an  immatured  grain  of  corn  is  planted  in  the  ground  it  would  be  good 
food  for  insects,  fungi  and  bacteria.  Sugar  is  what  they  live  on.  A  perfectly 
matured  grain  of  corn  has  practically  no  sugars  in  it.  Under  the  lowering 
temperature  which  the  corn  meets  in  the  fall  it  changes  the  sugars  into 
starches  and  oil.  Fungi,  insects  or  bacteria  can't  live  on  that.  Other  organ- 
isms can,  but  the  lower  things — the  lower  organisms  can't  live  on  starches 
nor  oils  to  any  extent.  Before  the  plant  can  get  the  food  out  of  the  starches 
and  oils  they  must  be  converted  into  sugar.  Sugars  are  starches  in  solution 
in  water,  so  that  grain  of  corn  has  got  sugars  in  it.  The  sugars  will 
permeate  the  soil  by  diffusion;  they  get  away  from  the  kernel  into  the 
soil,  and  there  is  always  fungi  or  something  lurking  around  in  a  good  fertile 
soil,  especially  if  it  is  a  sour  soil,  and  they  feed  on  the  dissolving  sugars. 
Those  diffusing  sugars  come  up  to  the  grain  and  destroy  probably  the  grain 
and  that  corn  decays.  I  have  seen  well  matured  corn  stay  in  the  ground 
under  conditions  that  growth  could  not  take  place  even  after  planted,  sub- 
merged in  water  two  or  three  weeks  and  then  grow.  Your  immature  corn 
could  not  stand  more  than  two  or  three  days  before  it  would  be  dead.  So 
everything  in  the  utility  corn  idea  leads  up  to  the  question  of  maturity. 

Dr.  Holbert  is  doing  a  wonderful  work  in  the  study  of  those  resistive 
characters.  We  know  certain  characters  are  liable  to  be  injured  by  infesta 
tion  of  some  kind.  We  know  poor  lungs  in  an  animal  invite  lung  diseases. 
Not  that  the  poor  lungs  cause  disease;  no,  but  they  have  less  resistance. 
Hence,  you  want  good  lungs  on  your  animal  so  you  will  avoid  lung  diseases. 
There  are  the  same  characters  in  corn.  Starting  out  on  that  line  of  scientific 
breeding  is  going  to  have  a  wonderful  effect  in  the  next  few  years,  not  only 


68 

on  corn,  but  perhaps  on  other  plants  as  well.  There  is  a  great  need  for 
improvement  on  some  other  crops.  Oats  needs  a  good  deal  of  improvement, 
but  the  corn  needs  the  handiwork  and  skill  of  this  breeder. 

Q.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  don't  know  whether  I  quite  get  the  doctor's  view. 
Suppose  we  go  to  work  and  pick  our  seed,  what  seems  to  be  a  good  seed  for 
picking,  and  put  it  in  a  corn  crib  with  a  top  on  it,  open  around  the  sides,  a 
common  wagon  shed,  and  there  doesn't  come  any  particular  frost  in  the 
fall.  Are  we  safe  in  saying  that  that  is  a  fairly  good  way,  a  reasonably 
good  way  to  store  seed  corn?  Of  course,  once  in  a  while  we  have  a  bad 
frost  along  about  in  October,  the  first  half  of  October.  Are  we  to  say  it  is 
very  unsafe  without  the  assistance  of  some  artificial  heat? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  He  told  you  one  test  is  to  twist  the  ear.  As  the 
corn  matures  the  sugars  change  to  starches  and  oils  in  the  corn,  and  then 
when  you  get  a  stiff  cob  it  is  a  mature  cob.  If  you  pick  only  that  kind  of 
ears  you  can  hang  them  up  in  the  corn  crib  and  they  won't  suffer.  Dr. 
Hottes  told  you  you  can  put  mature  corn  into  liquid  air.  Thirty-two  degrees 
many  times  will  kill  immature  corn.  That  is  the  test  for  maturity.  Stiffness 
of  the  cob  is  one  test.  Does  anybody  else  want  to  say  anything  about  corn 
or  any  other  crop?  This  is  a  crop  session. 

Mr.  GOUGLER :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  just  like  to  give  a  little  observa- 
tion I  had  along  this  line  this  fall,  but  it  was  with  soy  beans  instead  of 
corn.  We  had  a  very  extensive  soy  bean  grower.  A  year  ago  he  decided  to 
build  a  soy  bean  house.  He  built  a  two-story  structure,  probably  twenty 
feet  high.  The  upper  part  is  divided  up  into  six  bins.  Each  bin  will  hold 
about  three  hundred  bushels.  In  this  lower  part  he  has  a  pretty  large  heating 
plant  that  provides  heat  to  dry  them  out.  His  idea  was  to  be  able  to  move 
the  beans  from  one  bin  to  the  other  at  will.  He  put  his  beans  in  there 
this  fall  not  very  clean,  with  the  idea  of  recleaning  them.  He  went  out  one 
day  and  put  his  men  to  work  recleaning  these  beans,  and  he  allowed  them 
to  flow  down  over  this  pipe,  over  this  fan,  and  then  into  the  elevator  and 
back  into  another  bin.  Now,  the  peculiar  thing  that  happened  there — the 
heat  was  just  right  in  the  room  and  the  beans  were  cold,  but  as  they  passed 
through  that  pipe  enough  moisture  was  condensed  that  they  took  up 
moisture.  They  produced  enough  moisture,  the  cold  beans  in  the  warm  pipe, 
that  water  just  dripped  from  the  end  of  that  pipe  all  the  time.  He  let  his 
men  go  ahead  and  complete  the  bin.  They  went  up  into  the  bin  a  few  days 
later  and  they  found  they  had  a  solid  wall  clear  across  where  they  were 
frozen  solid.  It  ruined  the  whole  three  hundred  bushels.  They  were  put 
in  dry. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  He  thought  they  were  dry,  but  they  held  a  lot 
of  moisture  in  the  sugar  from  the  immature  beans.  We  must  appreciate  the 
great  value  of  ventilation  in  taking  care  of  the  seed.  There  is  going  off  the 
same  gas  we  are  driving  out  of  our  lungs  every  breath — carbon  dioxide. 
The  drier  it  is  and'  the  lower  the  temperature,  up  to  a  certain  point,  the 
lesser  the  respiration  that  is  going  on,  and  if  there  isn't  enough  ventilation 
to  carry  away  that  carbon  dioxide,  which  is  heavier  than  air,  then  they  claim 
it  will  change  to  alcohol  in  the  seed  and  cause  destruction.  That  is  what 
happens  when  ice  stays  on  wheat  or  clover.  The  carbon  dioxide  can't  escape 
and  stays  in  the  plant  to  cause  intoxication  and  death,  and  if  any  of  you 
don't  believe  that  you  just  hold  your  breath  for  three  minutes  and  you  will 
be  dead  drunk  from  the  same  cause,  the  formation  of  alcohol  in  your  blood. 
I  heard  once  of  a  man  who  paid  a  high  price  for  a  bushel  of  fancy  seed  corn. 
He  was  afraid  the  mice  would  get  to  it  so  he  shelled  it  and  put  it  in  a  carbide 
can  and  screwed  the  top  on  it.  In  two  or  three  weeks  he  didn't  have  any 
more  seed  than  a  rabbit.  Whenever  you  store  seed  corn,  or  any  seed,  store 
it  high  enough  so  there  can  be  enough  circulation  to  carry  away  that  gas. 
Mr.  GRAY:  Is  it  necessary  to  plant  soy  beans  with  a  drill  or  broadcast 
them? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Well,  I  would  say  you  could  do  either  one. 
Drilling  is  always  more  economical  because  you  don't  require  so  much  seed, 
generally  get  it  better  covered,  better  distributed  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
You  can  do  either  one,  of  course. 


69 

Q.  It  has  been  advised  by  some  of  the  speakers  to  butt  and  tip  seed 
corn  before  planting.  What  would  be  the  result  of  planting  some  butt  and 
tip  seeds,  would  there  be  any  harm? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  should  say  the  butt  grains,  if  you  have  them 
distributed  over  the  plant  evenly,  would  make  better  plants  as  a  rule  than 
the  moderate  size  grains.  The  more  food  that  is  available  to  the  plant,  not 
only  the  amount  stored  but  the  condition  in  which  it  is,  so  the  plant  can 
use  it  more  freely  and  readily,  the  more  growth  it  will  make.  The  first 
step,  and  one  which  largely  controls  the  whole  performance  of  grain  pro- 
duction, is  the  formation  first  of  the  stalks,  just  as  the  doctor  told  you, 
the  germ  and  endosperm  cells,  their  proper  mating  so  as  to  form  some 
progeny.  The  plant  has  some  motive  in  storing  food.  Sexual  reproduction 
is  a.  strong  draft  on  the  vitality  of  plants  as  well  as  of  animals,  and  only 
the  plant  which  has  a  strong  start  is  able  to  get  past  that  serious  draft  on 
its  system.  So  frequently  your  crop  depends  upon  that  immediate  step, 
just  as  Dr.  Holbert  showed  you  in  his  very  first  picture.  Now  in  the 
smaller  grain  you  have  less  food  for  various  reasons.  You  are  very  likely 
to  have  an  exposed  tip  and  the  grains  have  colds  and  adverse  weather  condi- 
tions to  contend  with.  So  I  don't  think  it  is  safe  as  a  rule  to  depend  on 
using  the  tip  kernels  for  seed  production.  That  is  my  view  of  it. 

Mr.  CAMPBELL:  Isn't  it  because  of  the  peculiar  shape  of  the  butts 
and  ends? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  That  is  what  I  would  say  if  you  get  them  evenly 
distributed,  but  they  are  uneven  in  shape,  uneven  in  size,  and  do  not  go 
through  a  planter  evenly  and  readily.  You  want  a  planter  to  drop  two  at 
a  time,  don't  you? 

Mr.  CAMPBELL:     Two  and  three. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  An  end-drop  planter  won't  usually  handle  ker- 
nels which  are  larger  one  way  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  If  they  are  larger 
than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  one  diameter,  in  one  measure,  they  do  not  go 
through  an  end-drop  planter.  When  you  run  them  through  a  quarter  inch 
sieve  you  have  got  nothing  left  but  what  will  go  through  the  common  corn 
planter. 

I  will  tell  you  another  trick  worth  trying,  too.  The  corn  plant  loves  its 
offspring  just  as  any  animal  loves  her  offspring  and  the  plant  will  store 
more  food  and  give  more  food  to  the  stronger  of  the  offspring.  You  take 
any  ear  of  corn  and  there  are  large  kernels  in  the  middle  of  the  ear  and 
smaller  kernels  in  the  middle  of  the  ear.  You  take  out  the  larger  ones 
and  the  smaller  ones  and  plant  them  separately  and  see  what  they  do. 
The  plant  loves  the  offspring.  They  grow  better,  not  only  better  inherently 
but  because  they  have  more  food  to  grow  with.  Try  that  once  as  well  as 
your  tips  and  butts. 


WEDNESDAY  EVENING  SESSION. 


February  22,  1922,  7:30  o'Clock  P.  M. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  city  invites 
any  and  all  visitors  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  headquarters,  to  make 
free  use  of  their  rest  rooms  and  other  conveniences.  They  had  planned  to 
give  visitors  here  a  free  ride  in  an  airplane,  but  the  weather  and  soil  condi- 
tions are  not  very  favorable  at  present.  If  they  should  become  favorable 
then  their  invitation  will  hold.  They  invite  the  people  to  visit  the  factories 
in  the  city  and  will  provide  free  transportation  to  anyone  who  wants  to 
visit  any  of  the  factories.  Leave  your  names  at  either  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  rooms,  or  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  and  you  will  be  provided  with 
facilities  for  visiting  the  various  factories^ 


70 


I  am  glad  now  to  introduce  to  you  the  "Egyptian  Song  Birds"  who  will 
give  us  a  little  music.  I  want  Mr.  Filson  to  make  a  statement  first. 

Mr.  C.  M.  FILSON:  Good  people,  we  are  certainly  glad  to  be  in  Mon- 

mouth  this  evening.  When  I 
first  came  into  the  hall  and 
saw  our  good  friends,  Mr.  Mann 
and  Mr.  Mason  I  certainly 
felt  at  home.  Mr.  Sites  and 
myself  are  connected  with  the 
C.  &  E.  I.  Railroad  Company. 
We  sometimes  style  ourselves  as 
a  "farmer  on  wheels."  We  try 
to  get  an  education  along  farm 
lines  so  we  can  get  it  to  our 
people  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  state  which  you  commonly 
know  as  Egypt.  These  little 
girls  are  daughters  of  Mr.  Sites 
of  the  C.  &  E.  I.  Railroad.  We 
have  been  to  a  number  of  places 
and  people  seemed  to  be  well 
entertained.  My  good  friend 
Mr.  Mann  heard  them  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  state  and 
nothing  would  do  but  that  they 
should  leave  the  school  and 
come  to  this  meeting.  We  hope 
that  while  they  are  at  the  Insti- 
tute some  of  their  numbers  will 
please  you.  They  have  quite  a 
number  of  songs.  The  girls  say 
that  when  they  see  the  smiles 
on  people's  faces  they  realize 
they  like  the  song,  and'  if  they 
can  get  their  hands  working 
once  in  a  while  it  won't  hurt 
a  bit.  They  will  sing  their  ver- 
sion of  "Illinois." 


Dorothy  and  Doris  Sites, 
"Egyptian  Song  Birds" 


Vocal  Duet Dorris  and  Dorothy  Sites 

To  our  parents  of  the  prairie, 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois 
What  about  your  Joe  and  Sarah 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois? 
We  are  pleading  with  you  now 
For  a  calf  to  become  a  cow 
"As  the  banks  are  planning  how," 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois, 
"As  the  banks  are  planning  how," 

In  Illinois. 

If  we  go  to  the  city, 

From  Illinois,  from  Illinois, 
It  would  sure  be  a  pity, 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
Please  don't  drive  us  from  our  home 
To  the  city  there  to  roam 
To  be  another  city  drone, 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois, 
To  be  another  city  drone, 

In  Illinois. 


71 


Dr.    Eva   M.    Wilson. 


You  can  keep  me  if  you  try, 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
We  will  tell  you  by  and  by 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
Make  the  "home  a  place  to  be" 
And  the  rest  you'll  plainly  see, 
Leave  that  up  to  Joe  and  me, 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
Leave  that  up  to  Joe  and  me, 

In  Illinois. 

Let  us  own  a  pig  or  calf 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
That  will  make  us  jump  and  laugh 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
We're  like  other  girls  and  boys, 
Share  your  sorrow  and  your  joys, 
Let's  have  stock  instead  of  toys 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
Let's  have  stock  instead  of  toys 

In  Illinois. 

Oh  that  mortgage  you  have  now 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
Will  be  lifted  with  the  cow 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
But  the  scrubs  will  have  to  go, 
Prom  the  pure  blood  milk  will  flow 
F,or  Mr.  Mason  told  us  so 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 
For  Mr.  Mason  told  us  so 

In  Illinois. 

Mr.  Mann  here  today 

Of  Illinois,  of  Illinois. 
He  will  help  us  plan  the  way 

In  Illinois,  in  Illinois. 


PRESIDENT  MANN:  We  recognize  our 
Domestic  Science  Department  as  the  better 
half  of  the  Institute  and  I  want  to  introduce 
to  you  tonight  the  president  of  the  domestic 
science  department  of  the  institute,  Dr.  Wilson 
of  Manhattan. 

Dr.  EVA  M.  WILSON:  It  is  certainly  very 
pleasant  to  meet  with  both  parts  of  the  Insti- 
tute. I  am  reminded  to  tell  you  what  I  said 
quietly  to  a  group  of  ladies  the  other  day.  In 
pleading  that  we  might  have  more  long  life 
among  our  men  and  our  children  I  remarked 
that  I  not  only  wanted  my  children  to  work  as 
hard  as  I  do,  but  a  little  harder,  and  I  decided 
I  wanted  to  get  father  to  work  a  little  harder, 
— but  I  hadn't  told  father  about  it.  However, 
I  am  convinced  I  am  right,  because  we  counted 
in  a  nearby  village  the  other  day,  and  we 
counted  in  our  village,  forty  retired  farmers' 
widows.  .So  I  think  my  position  is  right.  I  do 
not  want  to  be  a  retired  farmer's  widow  so 
we  want  to  work. 

We  are  very  fortunate,  indeed,  in  having 
with  us  a  speaker  whose  mind  is  always  work- 
ing toward  concentration  toward  that  much 


abused  word,  but  which  expresses  our  meaning  best  of  all,  "Efficiency."  You 
know  they  have  told  us  we  have  all  of  everything  here,  all  the  sunshine,  all 
the  food,  all  the  milk,  all  the  water,  everything  that  is  good  out  in  the 
country,  and  the  only  difficulty  is  we  don't  know  how  to  use  it.  I  sometimes 
think  there  is  something  in  that.  We  have  with  us  this  evening  one  of  those 
individuals  who  has  learned  how  to  use  some  of  the  good  of  life  and  how  to 
get  most  out  of  that  which  is  around  us.  It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  the 
Department  of  Household  Science  presents  Mrs.  Clara  Ingram  Judson  from 
Chicago  who  will  speak  to  us  on  the  subject  "Leisure — a  Liability  or  an 
Asset."  Mrs.  Judson: 


LEISURE— A  LIABILITY  OR  AN  ASSET. 
(Mrs.  Clara  Ingram  Judson.) 

The  teacher  was  talking  to  her  children  about  heredity  and  had  ex- 
plained something  of  what  it  meant.  After  she  thought  they  understood, 
she  asked  each  child  in  the  class  what  he  would  rather  be  if  he  could  be 

anyone  he  choose.  One  pupil  after  the  other 
chose  famous  people,  until  she  got  down  to  the 
little  Irish  boy  at  the  end  of  the  class.  He 
said,  "Teacher,  I  would  rather  be  half  Nigger 
and  half  Jew."  The  teacher  thought  she  had 
not  heard  right  so  she  said,  "What  did  you 
say,  Mike?  I  asked  what  would  you  rather 
be  if  you  could  be  anybody  you  choose."  Mike 
said,  "I  heard  you,  Teacher.  I  said  1  would 
rather  be  half  Nigger  and  half  Jew."  "Well", 
said  the  teacher,  "I  don't  understand,  Mike. 
Why  would  you  like  to  he  that?"  He  rep'ied, 
"That's  easy.  A  Nigger  is  always  happy  if  he 
has  a  dollar  and  a  Jew  always  has  one." 
[Laughter.]  I  feel  like  that,  because  you 
know  I  am  always  happy  if  I  have  a  speech 
and  an  audience,  and  now  I  have  both. 

I  am  going  to  talk  about  leisure.  When 
I  wakened  my  husband  last  night  about  two 
o'clock,  and  I  told  him  I  was  going  to  talk  to 
the  Farmers'  Institute  about  leisure,  he  said, 
"That  will  be  a  real  joke!  If  you  can  talk 
about  leisure  to  the  American  farmer  and  his 
wife  without  being  run  out  of  town,  you  will 
do  more  than  I  think  possible!"  It  does  seem 
a  little  strange,  perhaps,  to  talk  to  the  over- 
worked farmer  about  leisure,  you  and  I  are  busy  people,  and  if  we  have  very 
much  leisure  we  certainly  don't  realize  it,  do  we?  But  I  wonder  if  we 
haven't  more  leisure  than  we  do  realize. 

What  is  leisure?  The  first  thing  we  think  of  when  we  speak  of  leisure, 
is  the  man  who  sits  at  the  roll  top  desk,— and  by  the  way,  they  don't  have 
roll  top  desks  any  more,  they  have  smooth  desks  that  somehow  never  get 
piled  up  because  things  are  shoved  into  the  drawers, — this  man  locks  up  his 
drawers  and  goes  away  in  a  lovely  limousine  about  four  o'clock  on  a  work 
day  afternoon.  I  have  heard  that  that  is  the  way  the  Chicago  business  men 
do.  But  the  Chicago  business  man  that  I  am  best  acquainted  with  doesn't 
do  that  way  at  all!  There  are  so  many  things  Chicago  people  are  supposed 
to  do  that,  although  I  have  lived  there  a  good  many  years,  I  have  never 
seen  them  do.  Just  a  little  bit  east  of  here,  I  was  at  an  institute  last  winter, 
and  I  heard  one  friend  say  that  everybody  who  lived  in  Chicago  was  a  mil- 
lionaire, so  you  see  where  I  am!  It  places  me  very  effectively! 

Yes,  when  we  think  of  leisure  we  think  of  being  through  work  at  four 
o'clock  and  driving  away  in  a  Rolls  Royce,  or  some  other  grand-sounding 
car,  going  off  to  play  golf.  Isn't  that  our  first  thought  of  "leisure?"  And 


Mrs.    Clara   Ingram  Judson. 


73 

we  say  we  can't  do  that.  To  be  sure,  we  can't,  you  and  I.  I  wonder  If  we 
would  like  it  very  much  if  we  could.  I  think  it  would  bore  me  to  extinction, 
because  I  don't  know  of  anything  that  is  as  much  fun  as  work.  But  there 
are  kinds  and  kinds  of  work.  Sometimes  I  work  in  my  leisure  but  don't 
call  it  work,  because  I  recognize  it  as  a  pleasure  and  realize  that  I  enjoy 
that  particular  task. 

If  I  were  to  define  leisure  I  would  say  it  is  the  time  we  have  left  over 
rfter  we  have  done  the  work  that  is  necessary  for  a  living.  That  is,  the 
time  we  don't  need  to  use  to  provide  food,  shelter  and  the  necessary  cloth- 
ing. Now  maybe  that  is  not  very  much  time.  Let's  see.  When  we  are  eat- 
ing we  are  not  working  for  a  living.  So  there  is  mealtime,  that  is  two  or 
three  times  a  day.  There  is  some  time  in  the  evening  when  we  are  not 
working,  and  how  about  Sunday?  We  don't  work  all  day  Sunday.  So  you 
see  all  of  us  have  some  spots  of  leisure.  I  am  not  certain  but  what  we  might 
have  more  if  we  knew  just  how  to  go  about  it. 

You  know  we  have  done  a  lot  of  mix-up  thinking  about  this  very  im- 
portant subject  of  time.  I  have  had  people  say  to  me,  "When  you  keep  house 
and  sew  for  your  children  and  the  like,  how  do  you  find  time  to  write  books?" 
I'll  tell  you  a  secret, — I  don't.  I  never  yet  have  found  any  time.  I  have 
walked  up  and  down  State  street  a  good  many  times  looking  for  various 
sorts  of  things,  but  never  yet  have  I  seen  a  chunk  of  time  out  in  the  street, 
nor  have  I  ever  seen  any  time  out  in  the  prairie.  Have  you?  We  don't 
find  time!  If  we  want  to  do  anything  we  have  to  use  the  time  we  already 
have!  We  don't  find  new  time! 

24  HOURS  A  DAY  FOB  EVERYBODY. 

We  talk  a  good  deal  about  equality  and  everyone  having  an  equal  chance 
in  this  country,  and  it  is  well  enough  to  talk  that  way,  but  down  in  our 
hearts  we  know  that  everyone  isn't  equal.  Look  at  some  of  the  conspicuous 
inequalities!  Some  of  us  here  are  old,  some  are  young,  some  of  us  are  good 
looking  and  some  go  to  beauty  parlors;  some  of  us  are  lean,  thin  and  stylish 
and  some  are  dieting;  some  of  us  are  rich  and  some  are  rustling  around  still 
on  our  first  thousand.  There  are  all  kinds  of  folks,  but  there  is  one  real 
equality:  whether  you  are  rich  or  poor,  old  or  young,  wise  or  foolish, — you 
have  twenty-four  hours  every  single  day — all  your  own.  Twenty-four  hours 
to  do  with  as  you  like.  I  wonder  sometimes,  whether  we  need  any  greater 
equality!  Just  think  what  that  really  means!  A  Burbank,  an  Edison,  a 
Wilson,  a  Roosevelt,  a  Lincoln,  a  Washington  has  twenty-four  hours  in  his 
day;  the  man  who  spends  his  days  sitting  on  the  railroad  ties  has  twenty- 
four  hours  in  his  day  just  the  same,  and  yet  look  at  the  difference  in  the 
results! 

You  all  know  how  some  folks  seems  to  get  so  much  done  and  some  seem 
to  be  everlastingly  rushing— yet  both  have  exactly  the  same  amount  of  time. 
The  same  as  you  and  I  have — wherein  is  the  difference? 

Of  course,  if  it  was  merely  a  question  of  getting  something  done  and 
then  sitting  down  with  nothing  to  do,  I  think  we  had  better  hurry  off  home 
and  get  the  work  done  and  then  just  loaf.  But  it  isn't  that.  You  and  I 
know  it  isn't  that.  The  way  to  get  a  great  deal  done  in  our  working  time 
is  to  decide  what  we  want  most  to  do  and  thereto  do  it,  I  know  only  two 
ways  of  getting  more  accomplished  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  The  first  is  to 
eliminate  the  unimportant  things,  and  the  other  way  is  to  improve  our 
methods  of  working.  In  these  two  ways  we  can,  perhaps,  hope  to  have  more 
leisure. 

But  if  we  had  more  leisure  what  would  we  do  with  it?  Can  leisure  be 
put  to  any  good  use?  Take  the  time  that  I  spoke  of,  the  three  kinds  of  time 
when  all  of  us  have  some  leisure,  meal  time,  some  evenings  and  part  of  Sun- 
day. What  ought  that  time  if  well  used  give  to  us?  I  could  not  have  time 
in  one  speech  to  tell  you  all  that  it  might  give  to  us,  but  some  of  the  main 
things  that  part  of  our  leisure  might  give  to  us  are,  a  sound  body,  good 
friends  and  higher  ideals.  Those  are  three  worth  while  and  important 
things  we  can  hope  to  get  from  our  leisure. 


74 

How  can  we  get  a  sound  body  from  meal  time  and  evenings  and  parts 
of  Sunday?  How  do  you  do  your  eating?  And  what  do  you  eat  at  your 
house?  You  know  it  is  a  very  interesting  thing  to  go  around  and  see  how 
and  what  folks  eat.  Don't  you  like  to  eat  at  other  folks'  houses?  Not  at 
all  to  criticize,  but  to  get  an  idea  what  other  folks  talk  about,  and  whether 
other  folks  cook  the  same  everlasting  meat  and  potatoes,  bread  and  biscuits. 
Sometimes  when  we  have  been  visiting  we  come  home  and  find  that  our  own 
things  taste  awfully  good,  don't  they?  And  yet  it  was  fun  to  taste  other 
folks'  things.  Kindly  comparisons  are  both  stimulating  and  heplful  and  we 
ought  to  "visit  around"  all  we  possibly  can. 

LEISURE    AT    MEAL    TIME. 

But  how  can  we  use  our  meal  times?  Well,  for  one  thing  we  can  eat 
slowly.  Some  say,  "I  don't  have  time  to  eat  slowly,  I  am  too  busy."  I 
can  tell  you  one  thing,  and  if  there  is  a  doctor  here  in  the  audience  he  will 
bear  me  out, — the  man  who  eats  too  fast  wastes  time.  The  man  who  eats 
slowly  conserves  his  time  because  he  will  have  a  good,  sound  digestion 
and  he  can  get  more  done  when  he  starts  to  work.  The  man  who  bolts  his 
food  may  get  through  today  all  right,  maybe  next  week,  maybe  next  year, 
but  some  time  he  is  going  to  pay  for  his  haste  with  lowered  efficiency. 
We  working  folks  can't  afford  to  hurry  with  our  meals.  If  a  man  is  rich, 
maybe  he  can  afford  to  rush  through  his  eating,  but  you  and  I  who  are 
plain  working  folks  must  be  efficient,  must  be  on  the  job,  so  we  must  eat 
leisurely  to  ensure  economy  of  health. 

There  is  nothing  like  talk  along  with  a  leisurely  meal  to  make  good 
digestion  sound  bodies  and  an  optimistic  soul.  We  all  have  phonographs. 
The  other  evening  I  was  reading  in  one  of  the  current  issues  of  a  popular 
magazine  about  how  phonograph  records  are  made  and  I  thought  then, 
as  I  have  thought  many  times,  what  fun  it  would  be  to  have  one  of  those 
little  record  making  apparatus  right  in  our  homes,  so  we  could  just  turn 
a  crank  once  in  a  while  and  get  a  record  of  what  was  said  and  then  turn 
it  on  some  other  time  to  hear  the  record.  Suppose  you  had  one  of  those 
things  hidden  in  the  wall  of  your  dining  room  and  every  time  you  sat 
down  at  the  table  you  pressed  the  button  and  everything  that  was  said, 
grunted  and  done  was  recorded,  when  folks  were  around  to  call  on  Sunday 
you  could  get  that  record  and  play  it  for  them.  Do  you  think  that  might 
be  funny?  Well,  perhaps,  but  it  might  be  embarrassing  sometimes  too. 
I  don't  know  whether  we  would  always  like  to  hear  those  records.  [Laugh- 
ter.] The  first  time  you  sit  down  at  the  table  after  you  get  home  just  pre- 
tend that  you  are  pressing  a  button  and  starting  a  record  and  then  think 
whether  you  would  like  the  resulting  record.  Would  you  pay  fifty  cents  for 
it?  Or  eighty-five.  [Laughter.] 

Do  you  like  to  hear  the  news  of  the  day  talked  about?  Of  course, 
sometimes  we  do  and  sometimes  we  don't.  At  our  house  we  never  talk 
about  money  at  the  table,  except  once  a  year  when  we  make  the  budget. 
Budgets,  as  you  know  are  my  hobby.  But  folks  do  get  into  a  rut  even  if 
they  don't  talk  about  money.  However,  I  will  say  this,  I  believe  talking 
about  money  is  better  than  talking  about  nothing.  I  went  on  a  visit  at 
one  time  where  they  didn't  talk  at  all.  Of  course,  that  was  a  beautiful 
chance  for  me,  but  still  I  didn't  like  it.  I  don't  like  to  be  the  sole  talker 
all  the  time  at  meal  time,  I  would  rather  listen  to  some  back  talk — it  is 
more  inspiring.  I  think  any  talking  is  better  than  none  at  all,  but  the 
higher  the  grade  of  talking  the  more  worth  while  is  the  meal  time,  and 
the  better  and  more  efficient  will  be  the  folks  who  get  their  nourishment 
around  the  hospitable,  friendly  and  talkative  board.  Did  you  ever  try 
having  one  meal  a  week  when  you  could  sit  at  the  table  as  long  as  you 
wanted  to  and  talk  about  anything  you  choose?  We  started  that  three  or 
four  years  ago  at  our  house.  We  choose  one  meal  on  Sunday,  every  Sunday, 
sometimes  it  is  lunch, — sometimes  we  have  breakfast,  lunch  and  supper 
and  sometimes  we  have  breakfast,  dinner  and  tea,  just  according  to  our 
notion,— but  one  of  those  three  meals  we  plan  so  we  can  sit  at  the  table 


75 

just  as  long  as  we  want  to;  and  everybody  talks.  Sometimes  we  sit  an 
hour — our  record  is  four  and  a  quarter  hours.  That  was  the  day  we  started 
in  at  breakfast,  forgetting  to  go  to  church,  and  the  next  thing  we  knew  it 
was  a  quarter  past  one. 

And  what  do  we  talk  about?  What  would  you  suppose?  We  talk  about 
everything  under  the  sun,  from  Babe  Ruth  to  international  politics,  and  all 
the  way  up  and  down  the  line.  We  are  very  fond  of  baseball.  We  have 
two  daughters  who  are  bigger  than  I  am,  one  is  a  very  good  third  baser 
°nd  the  other  is  a  short  stop.  They  both  have  very  good  batting  records. 
Their  father  is  very  fond  of  baseball  too,  so  baseball  is  a  prime  topic  of  con- 
versation. I  am  not  supposed  to  know  anything  about  it.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  I  do,  but  I  keep  my  knowledge  a  secret,  because  it  is  very  much  more 
fun  for  three  people  who  do  know  a  lot  about  it  to  have  an  ignoramus  to 
enlighten.  So  I  pose  as  an  ignorant  mother  and  ask  what  batting  averages 
mean.  They  do  not  notice  that  I  ask  the  same  questions  season  after  season. 
They  do  not  think  that  I  might  sometimes-  get  educated,  because  it  is  so 
much  fun  to  instruct  me.  So  we  talk  baseball,  we  talk  politics,  college 
education,  religion,  dietetics,  clothes,  dressing  and  Sunday  School,  and  any- 
thing under  the  shining  sun  that  anybody  wants  to  talk  about,  with  every- 
body having  a  chance  to  say  whatever  they  want  to  say,  and  if  we  don't 
agree  with  the  person  who  sits  next  to  us  that  makes  it  so  much  more 
interesting,  because  if  every  one  in  the  family  agreed',  what  a  bore  that 
family  would  be.  It  is  so  much  fun  to  debate.  Disagreements  in  the  family 
are  so  satisfying  because  they  never  end.  You  can't  convince  a  person  to 
change  his  mind  so  you  have  the  fun  of  hunting  new  arguments  till  suddenly 
you  discover  that  that  topic  is  forgotten  and  a  new  one  is  under  discus- 
sion. Talking  about  big  things,  if  it  is  entered  into  with  the  right  spirit, 
and  by  the  scheme  of  -one  meal  a  week,  is  very  stimulating  in  family  life. 
Dishes  can  wait — and  by  the  way,  did  you  ever  know  anything  that  could 
be  so  safely  and  comfortably  allowed  to  wait  as  dishes?  I  have  heard 
women  say  they  never  went  away  from  home  and  left  dishes.  (I  hasten 
to  explain  that  mine  are  all  washed  before  I  left  home  this  morning! )  I 
have  tried  the  experiment  sometimes  of  going  away  and  leaving  dishes 
and  have  come  back  hopeful  that  something  might  have  happened,  but 
nothing  ever  did.  The  dishes  were  right  there  when  I  came  back,  just  the 
same  as  when  I  left.  [Laughter.]  I  discovered  if  we  wanted  to  sit  at  a 
table  and  talk  and  leave  the  dishes  for  an  hour  or  two  not  a  single  thing 
happens  to  them.  They  are  there  quite  comfortably.  You  can  wash  them 
at  the  end  of  the  four  hours  and  a  quarter  just  the  same  as  at  the  end  of 
fifteen  minutes.  They  won't  run  away!  So  forget  the  dishes  and  work 
just  one  meal  out  of  twenty-one  and  see  what  good  fun  you  can  have  when 
everybody  lingers  around  the  table  for  talk. 

IMPROVE    OUR    LEISURE    EVENINGS. 

Then  there  are  evenings.  What  do  we  do  with  our  evenings?  You 
who  have  heard  my  talk  about  planning  the  spending  of  our  money  won't 
be  very  much  surprised  to  hear  me  say  that  we  should  plan  the  spending 
of  our  leisure.  Perhaps  that  is  a  funny  sounding  phrase.  But  ask  your- 
self, "what  do  I  want  to  get  out  of  my  evenings?"  Did  you  ever  take  pencil 
and  paper  and  put  your  aims  down  in  black  and  white?  If  you  have, 
doubtless  you  have  had  the  experience  of  discovering  that  you  do  not  do  all 
the  things  you  intend.  Never  mind!  You  can  keep  on  aiming  high  just 
the  same! 

Let  us  see  what  sort  of  things  we  would  like  to  get  from  our  evenings. 
We  would  like  to  acquire  more  social  development.  I  like  to  see  a  man 
or  woman  who  can  have  a  good  time  alone.  I  would  be  rather  suspicious 
of  the  person  who  never  could  take  a  walk  or  do  a  job  alone  and  have  a 
good  time  at  it,  because  if  there  is  one  person  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
that  ought  to  interest  you  is  yourself.  Maybe  we  really  are  worth  getting 
acquainted  with  if  we  give  ourselves  a  chance.  But  we  want  to  know  other 
folks  too;  we  want  to  develop  some  social  graces.  For  we  live  in  a  world 


of  folks  and  to  get  the  most  out  of  life  we  must  learn  to  enjoy  people  to 
get  something  and  to  give  something  as  we  meet  our  friends  and  neighbors. 
We  want  to  have  a  good  time  in  the  family,  have  a  good  time  in  our  social 
group,  in  the  small  club,  in  the  church,  in  the  Farmers'  Institute,  farm 
bureau,  home  bureau,  have  a  good  time  when  we  come  in  contact  with 
people. 

I  think  one  splendid  thing  that  the  farmers  institutes  do,  (I  have 
realized  this  very  much  in  the  last  year  or  two)  is  creating  that  fine  inspi- 
ration that  comes  from  folks  getting  together  and  doing  something  for 
somebody.  Institutes  give  us  a  chance  to  try  our  hands  at  being  members 
of  a  community  organization;  and,  my  friends,  as  we  perfect  the  way  of 
having  a  good  time  in  our  own  communities,  with  all  of  us  working  to- 
gether, singing,  conferring,  discussing, — as  we  learn  how  to  do  that,  we 
will  get  a  little  higher,  and  a  little  nearer,  an  understanding  of  how 
nations,  which  are  merely  larger  communities,  can  work  together  under- 
standingly.  In  this  community  training  lies  the  solution  of  international 
problems. 

Then  there  is  another  thing  that  leisure  can  give  us  besides  physical 
improvement  and  the  social  contacts,  it  can  help  us  toward  higher  ideals. 
How  can  we  get  those?  Through  our  church,  through  listening  to  good 
things,  we  grow  to  higher  thinking.  But  in  the  quiet  evening  at  home, 
we  have  a  beautiful  opportunity  of  reaching  out  to  high  ideals  and  better 
understanding  by  reading  together, — perhaps  reading  aloud,  perhaps  each 
one  reading  by  himself  or  herself — both  ways  are  good  and  have  their  place. 

BOOKS   FOR  LEISURE   HOURS.  • 

We  need  to  think  carefully  about  what  kind  of  things  we  select  to 
read.  Speaking  broadly,  there  are  three  types  of  books  and  we  want  to 
have  a  good  many  well  chosen  volumes  in  our  homes.  There  is  the  type 
of  book,  we  will  call  a  book  of  direction; — that  is,  a  cook  book,  a  book  about 
sewing,  a  book  about  the  soil,  about  crops,  poultry,  anything  that  tells  us 
how  to  do  something. 

Perhaps  you  will  say  this  sort  of  book  increases  our  power  or  earning 
a  living  and  isn't  something  to  be  read  in  leisure  time.  Maybe  so.  Opinions 
differ.  But  some  of  us  like  to  read  such  a  book  in  the  evening.  Occa- 
sionally we  choose  to  use  some  of  our  leisure  that  way. 

There  is  another  type  of  book,  the  book  that  we  read  for  facts,  and 
if  we  want  to  know  more  about  the  world  around  us  we  must  have  that 
sort  of  book  at  hand, — an  encyclopedia,  a  history  and  a  biography.  That 
is  the  book  that  tells  us  briefly  and  accurately  about  the  world  around  us. 
I  like  to  read  that  sort  of  thing  but  I  never  realized  how  little  I  knew 
about  the  other  side  of  the  world  until  early  this  last  week.  I  had  an 
order  for  twelve  stories  for  a  child's  magazine,  each  story  to  be  about  a 
different  country,  Siam,  Alaska,  India,  the  Philippines — all  around  the  world 
those  twelve  stories  were  to  go  and  each  story  was  to  be  about  a  child  in 
his  own  home  in  his  country.  Maybe  that  sounds  easy,  but  when  I  began 
to  write  I  found  that  I  did  not  know  enough, — not  anywhere  near  enough! 
I  had  to  go  to  the  library  and  bring  home  several  books,  for  careful  study, — 
and  what  an  interesting  study  that  was!  I  found  out  for  one  thing  how 
easily  our  Siamese  sisters  keep  house.  Some  of  them  live  in  houseboats 
on  the  river  because  they  haven't  money  enough  to  own  land.  They  make 
a  raft  of  bamboo,  on  which  they  set  four  posts  supporting  a  thatched  roof 
of  palm  leaves.  Then  there  are  thatched  shutters  that  fold  up  and  during 
a  storm  can  be  dropped  down  for  shelter.  The  thing  that  interested  me 
most  was  the  way  the  Siamese  mother  keeps  the  floor  clean.  With  her 
bare  foot  pushes  dirt  or  rubbish  through  the  cracks  in  the  bamboo  floor 
into  the  river.  That  is  pretty  easy  housekeeping,  isn't  it? 

Then  the  Chinese  story  is  about  a  Chinese  farmer.  Do  you  know  how 
he  carries  his  stuff  to  market?  No  flivver,  or  car  of  any  kind  for  him. 
He  has  a  great  big  wheelbarrow  with  a  wheel  this  (4  or  5  feet)  high,  that 
comes  right  up  through  the  middle  of  a  flat  platform.  He  carries  such  a 


big  load  that  he  could  not  support  it  with  his  hands  so  he  has  a  harness 
that  goes  over  his  shoulder  that  sustains  the  weight.  With  that  he  carries 
rice,  watermelons  and  all  sorts  of  produce  trundling  the  stuff  along  for 
miles  and  miles  to  market.  I  never  knew  that  before, — maybe  you  did. 
If  I  had  time  I  could  tell  you  any  number  of  fascinating  things  that  1 
picked  up  in  just  a  little  study  of  other  countries.  Isn't  it  fun  to  know 
how  folks  keep  house  in  other  lands,  how  men  earn  a  living,  how  they 
till  the  soil,  how  folks  go  to  school  in  other  lands?  One  thing  above  all 
'thers  I  have  wanted  for  my  children's  education  is  money  for  travel.  I 
would  like  to  see  other  folks,  see  what  they  do,  what  they  eat  and  what 
they  wear.  But  I  am  afraid  I  have  been  making  my  wishbone  my  back- 
bone! I  can  get  fascinating  books  with  pictures  for  a  small  sum,  or  from 
the  library  for  nothing,  and  think  how  much  we  could  learn  if  we  took  a 
trip  around  the  world — in  books!  That  would  be  a  worth  while  way  to 
spend  evenings! 

Then  there  is  another  sort  of  books,  the  third  kind, — the  books  of  real 
literature,  books  read — not  for  direction,  not  for  facts,  but  to  bring  out 
thinking  higher;  books  that  make  us  understand  folks'  motives,  books  of 
poetry,  of  drama,  and  novels.  I  wonder  if  you  like  to  read  plays.  I  never 
could  get  as  interested  in  plays  as  in  novels.  I  used  to  wonder  why,  and  1 
found  out  a  little  while  ago.  The  folks  in  plays  never  explain,  they  just 
act  and  talk,  and  the  reader  has  to  have  brains  enough  to  figure  out  why 
they  act  as  they  do.  While  in  the  novel,  the  author  takes  the  reader  into 
his  confidence  and  explains  that  so  and  so  is  going  to  do  this  because  of  this 
and  the  other;  he  tells  the  reader  all  about  it  so  he  can  understand.  Since 
I  learned  that,  I  have  spunked  up  a  bit,  and  I  promise  myself  to  read  a  play 
a  year  and  to  understand  it. 

Have  you  ever  tried  reading  books  aloud  at  home?  We  have  never  done 
a  great  deal  of  that  in  our  house,  not  as  much  as  we  should;  but  during  the 
last  few  years  we  have  read  four  or  five  and  oh,  how  we  did  enjoy  those 
books!  Did  you  ever  read  Huck  Finn  aloud?  That  is  a  great  book  to  en- 
joy with  home  folks.  Have  you  read  Jane  Austin's  "Pride  and  Prejudice"? 
I  don't  know  anything  that  is  more  fun  to  read  out  loud.  "Treasure  Island" 
by  Stevenson,  is  fine,  too!  We  read  so  many  short  stories  nowadays.  Some- 
body said  to  me  this  evening  at  the  hotel,  "I  just  get  so  sick  reading  short 
stories."  Short  stories  are  all  right — a  glass  of  soda  water  is  all  right,  too, 
for  a  bit  of  refreshment.  But  you  would  not  like  to  live  on  soda  water  as  a 
steady  diet.  But  the  continual  reading  of  short  stories  takes  away  our  power 
of  concentration — gives  us  mental  indigestion.  Every  once  in  a  while  we 
should  read  a  long  book  straight  through.  It  doesn't  make  any  difference 
whether  it  takes  all  winter  or  winter  and  summer,  the  time  is  not  important 
if  you  enjoy  doing  it.  See  if  you  have  gumption  and  stick-to-itiveness  enough 
to  read  one  book  all  the  way  through.  It  is  good  training  and  it  is  fun,  too. 

Why  should  our  leisure  be  important?  Why  should  we  plan  out  the 
things  we  want  to  do  with  our  spare  time?  Do  you  realize  that  the  use  of 
leisure  is  one  big  thing  that  makes  the  difference  between  man  and  the  lower 
creatures?  Animals  can  eat  and  sleep  and  hunt  a  place  to  keep  warm,  but 
animals  can't  play  together  as  folks  can. 

One  of  the  greatest  thoughts  that  has  ever  come  into  the  mind  of  man 
is  the  thought  of  growth — of  evolution.  This  thing  that  you  and  I  call  mind, 
brain,  as  grown  from  way  back  at  the  beginning  of  time.  You  and  I  learn, 
when  we  study  evolution,  that  your  life  and  mine  are  not  little  sections  set 
down  here,  and  there,  just  like  a  patchwork  quilt,  with  no  relation  one  to 
the  other.  No,  our  lives  are  not  like  that.  Our  lives  are  a  growth.  You 
and  1  are  a  part  of  all  that  has  gone  before.  We  are  a  part  and  a  product; 
and  the  things  that  we  think  and  the  things  that  we  do,  are  the  product  of 
what  folks  have  been  thinking  and  doing  way  back  since  prehistoric  times. 
I  hope  you  will  all  read  that  very  wonderful  book,  Mr.  Wells'  "Outline  of 
History-"  You  will  give  yourself  a  treat.  It  is  an  imposing  sounding  thing 
with  1400  pages,  but,  oh,  such  fascinating  reading!  I  never  read  a  novel 
that  was  half  so  gripping  and  moving.  Read  it  sometime  and  read  it  loud. 
Don't  be  discouraged  if  you  can't  read  it  all  at  once.  Read  a  chapter  a 


78 

month  or  a  chapter  whenever  you  can.  Find  out  what  men  and  women  have 
done  by  the  use  of  the  time  that  was  left  over  after  they  earned  food  and 
shelter.  It  is  in  that  time  that  we  grow. 

MAKE   GOOD   USE   OF   EACH    GOLDEN    MOMENT. 

Someone  said  the  other  day,  "Tell  me  what  a  man  does  after  his  work 
is  done  and  I'll  tell  you  how  much  he  amounts  to."  You  have  all  heard  the 
story  of  the  man  who  was  asked  what  he  did  in  the  evenings.  "Well,  my 
friend,"  he  answered,  "sometimes  we  sit  around  and  talk  and  sometimes  we 
just  sit."  (Laughter.)  That  man  will  never  get  very  far.  We  need  the 
hour  of  relaxation  before  bed  time  or  after  dinner,  it  is  beautiful  and  valu- 
able. But  it  doesn't  hurt  that  precious  hour  to  use  it  for  something!  There 
is  so  much  to  talk  about  and  think  about,  so  much  that  we  might  dream  of 
doing  in  this  hour  left  over  for  us  after  the  day's  work  is  over.  Let  us  value 
each  golden  moment  and  use  it  ere  it  passes! 

What  do  we  want  to  be?  What  do  we  want  to  learn?  We  do  well  to 
think  and  question  thus.  My  friends,  it  is  by  the  use  of  our  leisure,  by  the 
use  of  this  time  that  is  left  over  after  the  day's  toil,  that  some  way  or  other 
we  have  worked  ourselves  up  from  the  slime  and  mud,  where  life  began,  to 
where  we  are  now.  And  from  where  we  now  stand,  let  us  lift  ourselves 
onward  and  upward  till  we  reach  the  loftiest  star! 

I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  am  very  glad  to  be  able  to  introduce  to  you 
tonight  Mr.  Carl  J,  Baer  of  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce  who  will 
talk  upon  "Interdependence  of  Town  and  Country". 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY. 
(Carl  J.  Baer.) 

We  have  learned  in  St.  Louis  the  big  lesson  that  we,  as  business  men  in 
that  city,  are  totally  dependent  upon  the  people  surrounding  the  city  of  St. 
Louis,  for  our  beautiful  city  is  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  the 

State  of  Missouri,  and  the  sister  States  of  the 
United  States;  that  a  city  cannot  be  greater  than 
the  territory  surrounding  it;  that  the  interde- 
pendence of  town  and  country  has  not  in  the  past 
been  fully  understood  by  all  American  people; 
that  today  we  are  in  a  critical  condition  through- 
out the  civilized  world,  perhaps,  primarily,  be- 
cause of  a  lack  of  understanding  between  the  vari- 
ous groups  of  people  in  the  world.  We  haven't 
been  close  enough  to  each  other.  There  has  been 
a  great  breach  growing  for  a  hundred  or  two  hun- 
dred years  between  the  groups  of  the  people  in 
the  country  and  the  people  in  the  towns  and  cities. 
It  isn't  anyone's  fault.  No  one  is  to  blame.  It 
isn't  because  one  group  is  wrong  or  the  other 
group  is  wrong.  It  is  because  we  haven't  under- 
stood fully  how  totally  dependent  we  are  upon 
each  other. 

The  nation  is  in  a  critical  condition,  but  that 
condition  is  no  grounds  today  for  pessimism.  We, 
in  this  American  country,  have  tried  to  serve  and 
do  our  part  in  the  great  world's  conflict.  We  all 
entered  the  war.  The  boys  who  donned  the  khaki,  of  course,  did  more  than 
the  rest  of  us.  Those  who  stayed  at  home,  who  could  not  go,  men  and  women 
who  served  with  the  Red  Cross,  the  Liberty  Loan,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  food 
propaganda — all  of  us  did  our  share.  There  isn't  a  man,  woman,  or  child  in 
this  audience  who  did  not  do  his  or  her  share  in  the  world  war;  but  when 
we  left  the  great  war  problem  on  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  and  it  isn't 


Carl  J.  Baer 


79 

a  criticism,  but  as  my  good  friend,  George  R.  James,  of  Memphis,  says:  "We 
came  right  back  from  the  war  with  a  pair  of  goggles  over  our  eyes;  over 
one  eye  was  the  dollar  sign,  and  over  the  other  eye  was  the  personal  pro- 
noun 'I.'  How  many  dollars  can  I  make  as  quickly  as  possible  in  order  to 
give  me  what  I  apparently  lost  in  the  war?" 

We  did  not  realize  what  such  a  program  would  do  to  America.  Our 
business  depends  upon  our  nation;  our  business  depends  upon  our  commun- 
ity, and  depends  upon  the  human  side,  or  the  welfare  of  the  people.  It  took 
three  years  of  the  great  strain  on  our  nation  to  practically  break  the  nation. 
There  were  too  many  of  us  trying  to  take  too  much  profit  out  of  our  own 
business.  The  nation  could  not  stand  that  strain.  We  should  have  given 
some  of  the  time  called  "leisure  time"  to  the  construction  of  our  community, 
to  the  construction  of  our  state  aud  our  nation,  and  have  realized  that  near- 
ly four  hundred  billion  dollars  of  a  debt  was  created  throughout  the  civilized 
world  by  all  the  nations  owing  each  other,  caused  by  a  destructive  program 
for  nearly  six  years. 

Let  us  spend  the  next  hundred  years  in  teaching  our  children,  our  grand- 
children, their  grandchildren  and  great  grandchildren,  to  go  forth  and  under- 
stand the  human  problems  of  life  and  to  understand  how  totally  dependent 
we  are  upon  each  other,  to  understand  that  relationship  and  to  learn  to  love 
each  other.  Why,  you  can't  be  friendly  with  your  neighbor  until  you  know 
him.  You  may  hate  your  neighbor,  but  to. know  him  is  to  learn  to  like  him. 
We  have  been  criticising,  we  have  been  attempting  to  correct  our  economic 
conditions  by  criticism. 

There  isn't  any  group  to  blame  for  this — we  are  all  to  blame.  We  can- 
not learn  to  co-operate  upon  the  program  of  criticism.  We  cannot  criticse 
continuously  and  at  the  same  time  co-operate.  So  we  must  get  together. 
Here  we  are — farmer,  doctor,  lawyer,  merchant,  manufacturer,  professional 
man,  teacher,  preacher — assembled  at  a  great  institute  meeting,  an  organiza- 
tion which  meets  regularly,  one  that  has  been  built  for  the  good  of  the 
people;  these  are  the  gatherings  in  America  that  are  going  to  put  us  on  our 
feet  where  we  can  all  get  together  to  discuss  our  relationship. 

A   BIG   BUSINESS,    BUT  NOT  PROFITABLE. 

We  have  failed  to  look  upon  agriculture  as  a  business,  and  we  do  not 
understand  today,  most  of  us,  that  agriculture  is  by  far  the  biggest  business 
in  the  nation,  a  bigger  business  than  all  the  rest  of  business  combined. 

As  a  business  man  and  farmer  during  the  last  fifteen  years  I  have 
learned  one  lesson;  that  the  business  end  of  farming  is  a  hard  one  and  that 
the  money  in  farming  is  mighty  little,  and  all  in  all,  in  fifteen  years,  my  opin- 
ion is  that  the  American  farmer  hasn't  made  a  dollar.  Counting  the  labor, 
the  investment,  and  the  false  credit  for  the  profit  because  of  the  rise  in  the 
value  of  his  land,  and  counting  the  fertility  that  has  been  robbed  from  the 
soil  which  belongs  to  all  of  us,  the  average  farmer  in  the  last  fifty  years 
hasn't  accumulated  any  money;  therefore,  he  hasn't  made  any  money.  I 
am  therefore  sure  farming  has  not  been  a  profitable  business  as  a  whole. 

Some  farmers  have  made  money,  but  if  you  could  come  with  me  into 
the  ten  or  fifteen  southern  states  and  spend  one  month  with  me  in  the  rural 
schools  and  in  the  homes  of  those  states  and  see  your  fellow  farmers,  and 
compare  them  to  the  wonderful  homes,  roads,  churches  and  schools  you  have 
here  in  the  states  of  greater  rural  development,  you  would  agree  that  these 
statements  are  true. 

Now,  the  farmer  who  does  make  money  cannot  maintain  his  business 
unless  the  average  farmer  in  America  makes  money.  Wheat  might  be  raised 
cheaper  in  Kansas  than  in  the  other  states,  cotton  might  be  raised  cheaper 
in  some  states  than  in  the  others,  livestock  and  poultry,  and  what  not,  might 
be  raised  cheaper  in  some  than  in  others,  but  the  average  farming  of  this 
nation  is  the  problem  we  are  trying  to  solve  today,  what  his  average  cost 
is  and  what  his  profit  is,  because  his  profit  represents  from  forty-five  to 
sixty  per  cent  of  the  buying  power  of  the  whole  nation.  All  the  rest  of  the 
buying  power  depends  upon  this  farmer.  His  buying  power  today  is  at  least 
eight  billion  dollars  short. 


80 

All  bush/ess  men,  doctors,  lawyers,  professional  men,  are  needed  in  this 
nation,  and  so  is  the  farmer.  The  farmer  must  understand  that  the  city 
is  needed  and  the  town  and  city  man  must  understand  that  the  farmer  is 
needed,  and  the  sooner  we  get  together  in  our  Chambers  of  Commerce,  farm 
bureaus,  and  all  other  civic  and  business  organizations,  the  quicker  we  can 
do  this  big  job  together,  letting  each  organization  function,  if  you  will, 
separately,  but  having  members  of  each  to  sit  on  boards  of  directors  in  other 
organizations,  and  to  get  a  common  understanding  and  see  that  the  busi- 
ness men  of  the  city  are  informed  upon  the  problems  of  the  farm,  and  see 
that  in  the  farm  bureaus  and  various  farm  organizations  that  there  are 
enough  city  folks  there  to  interpret  the  problems  of  the  city. 

Both  sides  can  be  fair.  Both  sides  ought  to  be  fair,  but  that  lack  of 
understanding,  that  suspicion  and  jealousy  on  the  part  of  both  sides  for 
years  and  years  has  grown  in  some  communities  until  it  has  caused  a  pitiful 
condition.  Conditions  of  this  sort  are  separating  the  people  instead  of 
bringing  them  together.  The  coming  of  the  farm  bureau  is  a  big  thing  be- 
cause it  is  a  big  institution,  composed  of  all  groups  of  farmers,  various  or- 
ganizations coming  together,  with  its  basic  program — education;  education 
in  farm  problems,  the  backing  of  the  Smith-Hughes  and  the  Smith-Lever 
bills,  the  building  of  universities  and  colleges  of  agriculture,  the  backing 
of  the  boys'  agricultural  clubs,  of  home  economics,  of  teaching  and  social 
uplift  work.  These  educational  organizations  are  the  basis  on  which  we  are 
going  to  reconstruct  our  country.  We  will  soon  be  able  to  put  enough  or- 
ganizations of  farmers  together,  not  for  malicious  action  or  selfishness  but 
for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind,  to  understand  the  real  meaning  of  farm  prob- 
lems. These  farm  organizations,  Chambers  of  Commerce,  commercial  clubs, 
and  others,  will  get  together  and  solve  the  economic  problems.  But  until 
both  sides  are  well  organized,  it  cannot  be  done. 

EXAMPLES  OF  PROFITABLE  CO-OPERATION. 

I  want  to  refer  to  a  great  example  of  co-operation — the  great  Arkansas 
campaign.  In  1914  war  broke  out  in  England,  France,  Germany  and  Russia. 
The  staple  cotton  crop  of  the  South,  which  was  our  life's  blood,  about  ninety- 
five  per  cent  of  all  we  had,  dropped  at  that  time  to  six  cents  a  pound.  We 
expected  twelve  for  it.  Our  state  went  broke  in  a  night  time  because  our 
farming  business  went  broke.  We  learned  that  we  had  been  buying  all  of 
our  food  and  feed  out  of  the  state,  and  when  cotton  dropped  from  twelve 
to  five  and  a  half  or  six  cents,  we  did  not  have  enough  cotton  money  to  buy 
the  food  and  feed  that  we  used  that  year.  We  called  together  a  hundred 
bankers  in  Arkansas,  at  Little  Rock  at  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  there 
for  eight  hours  we  discussed  this  problem.  One  bright  banker  said:  "Let 
us  find  out  how  much  money  we  send  out  of  the  state  for  food  and  feed." 
They  sent  six  of  us  out  over  the  state  for  six  weeks.  We  went  to  the  brok- 
ers and  retail  men,  we  went  to  the  railroad  men  and  we  checked  up  the 
following  figures:  Twenty-five  millions  for  meat,  twenty -three  millions  for 
canned  goods  and  the  balance  of  eighty-three  million  dollars  for  corn,  oats 
and  mixed  feed,  to  feed  the  mules  that  made  the  cotton  crop.  Just  think  of 
it!  Eighty-three  million  dollars  sent  away  for  those  things  we  should  have 
raised  on  the  farms.  In  consequence — we  were  broke.  All  the  bankers 
knew  was  to  loan  on  cotton;  all  the  merchants  knew  was  to  sell  on  cotton 
credit.  That  crop  for  forty  years  had  robbed  the  fertility  out  of  the  soil 
and  thousands  of  acres  were  not  producing  half  what  they  produced  forty 
years  ago.  Was  that  a  serious  condition?  Well,  we  put  on  a  campaign 
known  as  "Let  Arkansas  feed  herself."  We  called  on  your  state  and  the 
best  agricultural  experts.  We  took  men  from  the  county  agents,  we  took 
them  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture — everyone  that  we  could  get.  We 
got  about  sixty  of  the  best  agricultural  experts  in  the  country.  We  traveled 
thirty  thousand  miles  in  eight  weeks.  We  went  into  each  county.  We 
talked  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  farmers  in  their  churches  and  in 
their  school  houses.  Sometimes  there  would  be  thirty  or  forty  at  a  meeting 
The  banker  would  get  up  and  say:  "Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Farm: 


81 

We  are  here  today  as  business  men  from  the  little  town  you  have  been  trad- 
ing with.  We  have  come  here  not  to  tell  you  what  to  do,  but  to  ask  you  to 
do  some  things  in  a  co-operative  way  with  us.  We  have  been  farming  wrong 
in  Arkansas  and  we  have  brought  the  experts  from  the  University,  from  the 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Here  they  are  today.  These  men  know  scien- 
tific farming.  We  are  broke  in  Arkansas.  Now,  unless  we  get  money  to 
save  Arkansas  from  a  great  catastrophy  from  you  farmers  we  never  can 
build  up  Arkansas.  We  want  you  next  year  to  have  a  better  garden  than 
you  had  last  year.  We  want  you  to  set  aside  an  acre  or  two  for  oats;  we 
want  you  to  set  aside  an  acre  or  two  for  corn,  and  a  little  pasture  if  you  can. 
We  want  you  to  get  a  cow.  We  want  you  to  get  a  few  more  pigs,  a  few  more 
chickens,  and  when  you  have  done  that  then  raise  all  the  cotton  you  can 
raise.  Please  don't  raise  any  cotton  until  you  have  fed  yourself  and  family. 
Don't  raise  so  much  food  and  feed  that  you  will  have  a  lot  on  hand,  because 
we  haven't  established  markets." 

The  farmer  would  get  up  in  the  back  of  the  room  and  say:  "Mr. 
Banker,  I  have  been  trading  with  you  for  twenty  years.  I  know  you 
are  right;  but  you  dont'  know  what  you  are  asking  us  to  do — something  that 
is  impossible.  We  have  not  been  taught  this  diversified  farming.  My  kid- 
dies have  been  taught  to  raise  cotton  and  to  pick  cotton.  I  haven't  the 
machinery,  I  haven't  the  fertilizer,  I  haven't  the  money  to  buy,  I  haven't 
the  seed,  I  haven't  the  animals.  I  can't  change  farming  in  a  night.  I  have 
got  to  have  help." 

The  banker  would  say:  "Mr.  Farmer,  we  know  that.  We  will  lend  you 
help.  The  merchant  is  here  to  say  he  will  back  you;  the  doctor  says  he 
will  take  care  of  your  family  when  they  are  sick  until  you  can  pay.  The 
university  is  here,  the  county  agent  will  be  furnished  to  you.  The  govern- 
ment says  it  will  help  you  with  the  seed,  and  we,  as  bankers,  will  help  you 
with  money." 

The  farmer,  like  a  man,  rose  in  every  case  and  said,  "Then  I  will  do 
the  work."  Was  that  agreement  a  victory?  Yes,  it  •  was,  and  I  will  say 
that  was  co-operation.  There  wasn't  any  dividing  line  in  that  state  then  be- 
tween town  and  country.  Here's  what  happened  in  a  year.  A  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  of  those  farmers  said:  "Yes,  we  will  change.  Give  us  some 
seed,  lend  us  some  money,  give  us  a  cow,  we  will  give  our  mortgage  for  it; 
we  will,  if  necessary  go  bankrupt,  but  we  will  try."  In  one  year  from  that 
time  the  government  sent  its  experts  to  Arkansas  and  they  figured  that 
we  had  more  than  thirty-five  million  dollars  more  food  and'  feed  and  raised 
as  much  cotton  as  we  had  ever  raised  in  the  history  of  the  state.  Was  that 
a  victory? 

My  friends,  let  me  give  you  a  picture  after  seven  years.  The  old  school- 
house  that  was  boarded  up,  without  windows,  and  unfavorable  educational 
conditions  there,  where  the  little  kiddies  had  a  limited'  time  each  day  for 
schooling,  is  changing  in  Arkansas  slowly  to  the  consolidated  school.  The 
good  roads  are  coming  in.  The  banker  who  never  loaned  on  anything  but 
cotton  has  a  man  behind  the  counter  who  knows  something  of  livestock. 
Millions  of  dollars  have  been  spent  by  the  government  and  we  have  eradicated 
that  horrible  pest — the  tick,  and  now  we  can  raise  livestock;  and  you  farm- 
ers know  what  livestock  means  to  a  farm — that  we  can't  diversify  and  rotate 
unless  we  do  it  through  the  livestock  route.  We  could  not  do  that  before; 
now  we  have  a  chance.  Although  Illinois,  as  rich  as  she  is,  with  her  sixty 
million  dollar  road  program,  and  Missouri  with  her  sixty  million;  and  forty 
or  fifty  million  in  Iowa — still  Arkansas  has  now  issued  a  hundred  million 
worth  of  road  bonds  and  is  building  a  hundred  million  dollars'  worth  of 
roads — more  than  any  other  state  in  the  United  States. 

She  is  building  it,  not  out  of  cotton.  She  is  going  to  pay  for  those  roads 
out  of  corn,  oats,  wheat,  hay,  clover;  she  is  going  to  pay  for  it  out  of  live- 
stock; she  is  going  to  pay  for  it  out  of  fruit  and  vegetables.  Cotton  is  still 
king,  and  always  will  be,  because  of  the  climatic  condition;  but  when  we 
learn  to  rotate  the  cotton  crop  and  bring  back  the  fertility  of  the  land,  we 
are  going  to  build  a  wonderful  state. 


82 

Then  the  campaign  was  carried  on  over  into  Texas,  in  Alabama,  and 
over  at  Memphis,  Tennessee.-  Just  a  minute  about  the  Memphis  campaign 
Memphis  put  on  a  campaign  that  nets  them  annually  a  hundred  million 
dollars  more  business  because  the  farmer  thrives.  Whenever  you  can  give 
the  farmer  money  and  give  him  a  profit,  he  is  perfectly  willing  to  be  taxed 
for  roads,  schools,  and  churches,  but  he  can't  buy  a  school  book  on  twenty- 
five  cent  corn.  He  can't  buy  education  and  roads  and  the  things  that  we  have 
in  our  cities  unless  he  makes  a  fair  profit  over  and  above  all  expenses.  And 
that  is  what  we  as  business  men  have  got  to  see  to  in  the  future;  that  these 
forty-five  million  people  on  the  farms  in  America  have  an  even  break  with 
us  in  the  city,  and  everything  we  have  in  life,  and  when  that  comes  about 
there  will  be  a  different  country,  there  will  be  no  conflict  like  we  have 
between  capital  and  labor.  Why  should  not  the  rural  boy  and  girl  have  every 
opportunity  in  life  the  same  as  we  have  in  the  towns  and  cities?  Is  there 
any  good  reason?  No!  I  dare  say  that  the  child  in  the  country  today  doesn't 
receive  forty  percent  every  year  in  money  for  its  education  compared  to  the 
hundred  percent  that  is  given  in  the  cities.  I  know  it  is  less  than  half.  One 
state  that  has  nine  thousand  rural  schools  educates  half  of  its  children 
in  the  schools  of  the  country  while  the  other  half  are  educated  in  the  cities 
and  towns.  Eighteen  hundred  of  those  schools  have  no  drinking  water — more 
than  half  of  them  haven't  water  fit  to  drink;  most  of  them  haven't  any 
foundations,  the  kiddies'  feet  are  on  the  cold  floors  a  certain  number  of 
months  in  the  year,  and  no  shades  in  the  windows — the  kiddies'  little  eyes 
facing  the  light,  seats  too  high  or  too  low;  one  thousand  without  any  toilets, 
more  than  half  of  them  with  toilets  not  fit  to  use. 

The  time  has  come  when  the  American  business  men,  both  on  the  farm 
and  in  the  city  are  shown  such  grave  conditions  all  through  this  country, 
that  we  are  going  to  rise  as  American  citizens,  both  in  the  country  and  town, 
and  we  are  going  to  begin  at  the  great  base  of  all  economic  problems  to  de- 
vglop  the  human  side;  namely,  the  home  on  the  farm  and  the  school.  That  is 
the  basis  of  it,  after  -all.  When  we  once  get  that  home,  with  the  right  kind 
of  road,  there  will  be  a  different  story  to  tell. 

Let  me  cite  another  case.  It  was  my  pleasure  five  or  six  years  ago 
to  help  in  a  road  campaign  of  twenty-five  million  dollars  in  South  Carolina, 
After  eight  or  ten  weeks  of  campaign  in  forty-five  counties  I  had  been  telling 
the  people  of  South  Carolina  something  like  this:  "Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of 
South  Carolina:  I  don't  want  to  hurt  your  feelings,  but  you  used  to  be 
second  and  third  in  education  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago;  you  were  one 
of  the  leading  states  of  the  Union.  Now  you  have  allowed  these  great  states 
back  here — Illinois,  Iowa,  Nebraska  and  Kansas  to  forge  ahead  of  you. 
Here  you  are  on  the  seaboard,  with  the  markets  of  the  world  at  your  door, 
with  the  wonderful  land  that  you  had  years  ago  when  you  were  a  great 
cotton  producing  state;  your  forefathers  had  the  first  smoke  houses,  and 
the  livestock  and  pastures.  Now  those  old  hills  are  washed  away  and  they 
are  all  barren,  and  the  rural  school  is  nothing.  You  have  gone  down  from 
first  and  second  until  you  are  now  the  forty-eighth  out  of  the  forty-eight 
states  in  the  Union  in  education.  You  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  and 
you  have  more  poverty  than  any  other  state  in  the  Union.  You  have  more 
pauper  counties;  you  have  more  counties  living  on  the  other  fellow.  You 
have  more  illiteracy.  What  is  the  matter?  That  may  hurt,  and  I  say 
that  for  you  to  hear.  But  what  is  the  answer?"  A  leading  citizen  said  to  me 
when  I  left  there:  "What  is  the  answer?"  I  answered,  "I  will  not  attempt 
to  prove  that  I  know  the  answer,  but  I  am  willing  to  guess.  If  my  guess 
is  worth  anything,  here  it  is:  You  are  poorer  than  any  other  state  because 
you  have  robbed  your  soil  over  a  greater  number  of  years  than  any  of  the 
other  states.  You  are  older  than  we  are.  You  have  robbed  yourselves  poor." 
We  made  an  estimate  of  a  million  of  acres  of  land.  In  many  cases  we  found 
the  old  fellows  who  farmed  there  before  the  Civil  War,  we  took  an  estimate 
of  the  acreage  and  yield,  and  we  found  out  of  a  million  acres  sixty  to  seventy 
percent  were  not  producing  within  fifty  percent  of  what  they  produced  sixty 
years  ago.  And  the  answer  was  the  home  on  the  farm  and  the  poor  school 


83 

house.  We  found  only  one  and  a  half  hogs  to  the  average  farm,  when  Iowa 
was  producing  at  that  time  thirty-four  hogs  to  the  average  farm.  We  found 
the  people  spending  cotton  money  to  buy  their  hog  meat  and  letting  children 
go  without  schools. 

We  have  turned  the  problem  over  in  the  South,  friends,  and  we  have  now 
turned  to  feeding  ourselves  in  the  South  and  to  raise  the  old  cash  cotton 
crop  as  a  cash  surplus;  this  cash  surplus  is  giving  us  an  opportunity  to  send 
our  boys  and  girls  to  school. 

Wisconsin  is  the  next  example  of  co-operation  I  am  going  to  refer  to. 
What  happened  forty  years  ago  to  our  neighbor  state?  It  was  a  great  wheat 
state.  After  forty  years  of  wheat,  wheat,  wheat,  wheat,  the  chinch  bug  hit 
it  one  year,  and  the  next  year  it  hit  it  so  hard  that  the  farmers  and  bankers 
almost  went  broke.  Everyone  knows  the  story  of  Wisconsin.  When  the 
wheat  failed  what  great  remedy  solved  the  wheat  and  chinch  bug  problem  in 
that  state?  What  did  the  university  and  scientific  farmers  do?  They  pre- 
scribed the  dairy  cow.  The  dairy  cow  was  brought  into  the  state,  and  after 
forty  years  the  cow  is  still  there.  Then  came  the  dairy  business,  and  last 
year  a  hundred  and  eighty-seven  million  dollars  worth  of  cheese  and  milk 
products  was  sent  out  of  the  state,  and  they  are  still  holding  their  own  in 
wheat.  That  is  what  the  dairy  cow  has  done.  In  forty  years  the  re- 
habilitation of  the  land  is  coming  back. 

WHO  OWNS  THE  LAND? 

Whose  land  is  this,  friend?  Is  it  the  man  with  a  fee  simple  title?  Is  it 
the  doctor's,  lawyer's,  or  banker's?  Who  owns  the  land?  I  am  inclined  to 
think  we  are  only  tenants  for  life.  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  land  belongs 
to  God  Almighty  who  gave  it  to  us,  and  we  have  no  right  to  pass  it  to  our 
children  at  a  less  value  than  we  receive  it.  That  is  my  opinion  on  the  land 
problem  in  America.  Then  let  us  give  the  man  who  tills  the  soil  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  enough  surplus  to  rehabilitate  it  and  build'  it  up.  He  can't 
do  it  on  a  short  margin.  A  farmer  who  is  compelled  to  live  on  that  close 
margin  is  going  to  take  from  the  Nation  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  under- 
mine the  whole  understructure  upon  which  the  superstructure  rests. 

BALANCE  WHEEL  OF  PEOGEESS. 

So  let  us  help  him  and  let  us  understand  that  there  are  five  great  prob- 
lems in  life  to  solve.  Only  five  problems — we  divide  these  five  segments  of 
the  wheel,  or  spokes,  into  the  five  fields  of  endeavor  of  the  American  people. 
Here  we  call  your  attention  to  the  chart,  known  as  the  "Nation's  Wheel  of 
Progress."  Notice,  it  doesn't  "divide  its  segments  into  Jews  or  gentiles, 
Catholics  or  Protestants,  Democrats  or  Republicans,  Farmers'  Union  or  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce.  It  doesn't  talk  in  those  terms  at  all.  It  says  there  are 
five  problems,  and  the  five  I  want  to  mention  are:  first,  the  civic  development 
in  this  segment  here.  Then  the  raw  production  segment,  where  we  create 
raw  products.  Then  manufactured  products.  Then,  transportation,  or  the 
movement  of  things,  and  commerce,  or  buying  and  selling  of  things.  We 
claim  that  everything  in  life  is  included  in  these  five,  and  that  you  can't 
name  any  field  of  endeavor  of  any  man,  woman,  or  child,  that  isn't  included 
in  the  wheel. 

Now,  if  we  have  five  spokes  to  the  great  wheel  of  progress  of  the  nation 
let  us  strengthen  those  spokes  equally,  let  us  give  them  the  same  vitality, 
let  us  keep  them  all  equally  strong,  let  us  put  the  strain  equally  on  the  rim 
of  the  wheel  by  holding  each  spoke  as  perfectly  in  its  place  as  possible.  Let 
us  deliver  services  every  day  to  the  American  people  from  each  one  of  these 
segments  and  see  that  each  group  of  people  makes  a  fair  and  reasonable 
profit.  If  you  take  out  any  spoke  from  the  wheel,  it  crushes  the  whole  wheel. 
This  shows  conclusively,  friends,  that  we  need  all  branches  of  business  built 
by  co-operation. 

Before  I  explain  the  segments  in  detail,  I  want  to  call  attention  to  the 
rim  of  the  wheel  and  to  the  hub.  In  the  rim  of  the  wheel  we  have  the 
little  dots  which  represent  the  people  of  the  United  States.  If  these  people 


84 


of  the  United  States,  which  means  all  of  us,  if  they  hold  together  for  a  com- 
mon cause,  if  they  understand'  each  other  and  co-operate,  if  they  all  work 
for  all  of  the  people  instead  of  just  for  a  group  or  clique,  if  we  don't  get  into 
the  condition  that  Russia  got  into,  or  Germany,  or  that  Rome  fell  into 
years  ago,  we  are  going  to  have  a  strong  rim,  which  can  only  be  accomplished 
through  closer  relationship  and  co-operation. 


THE  NATBONIS  BALANCE  WWEEL 


OF    RROGRIESS 


COMMUNITY  DEVELOPMENT- PLAN  OF 
DEVELOPMENT-SERVICE  -DEPARTMENT 
ST. LOUIS  CHAMBER  OFCOMhERCE, 


Then  the  next  is  the  administration  hub.  In  our  nation  this  hub  repre- 
sents the  senate  and  house,  the  president  and  his  cabinet,  no  matter  whether 
they  are  Democrats,  Republicans  or  Socialists,  or  what  not.  They  should  be 
Americans  and  they  must  love  their  jobs  for  America's  sake  instead  of  any 
group  or  faction.  In  other  words,  we  must  have  in  the  future  more  business 
in  the  hub  and  less  politics. 

So  here  is  the  whole  wheel  ready  to  go,  with  a  strong  hub  and  rim  we 
are  going  to  build  with  strong  people  who  hold  together  in  five  fields  of 
endeavor,  represented  by  these  five  spokes.  Let  us  analyze  them. 


85 

CICIVS  THE  FIBST  SPOKE. 

What  does  the  first  spoke  of  civics  in  the  wheel  mean?  It  means  man- 
power, the  home,  the  church,  school,  playground.  It  means  the  environment 
and  opportunity  for  the  little  boy  and  girl  on  the  farm,  in  the  school  there 
and  in  the  school  in  the  city,  the  chance  in  life  to  develop.  That  doesn't  mean 
the  city  only,  friends,  but  it  means  the  country  and  community.  I  wish  you 
would  go  back  to  your  homes,  whether  you  are  business  men  of  the  farms 
or  business  men  of  the  city,  go  back  with  this  thought,  that  the  whole 
country  and  community  belongs  to  you;  that  the  whole  thing  is  yours;  that 
the  whole  thing  depends  upon  what  you  do  for  it,  not  just  the  growth  of  the 
town  or  the  growth  of  the  country. 

You  must  look  at  your  community  as  a  whole.  We  have  the  development 
of  the  boy  in  his  physical,  spiritual,  moral,  intellectual  and  economic  side — 
this  means  the  school,  home,  playground,  and  it  means  business.  We  have 
to  give  the  boy  and  girl  a  better  chance  and  give  them  an  opportunity  and 
a  better  chance  than  you  and  I  had.  We  have  passed  upon  the  policies  of 
this  war.  We  helped,  perhaps,  to  save  the  world  from  this  great  calamity, 
but  we  have  put  this  nation  in  debt.  It  wasn't  these  tiny  tots,  it  isn't  their 
fault,  and  we  cannot  leave  this  nation  in  any  strained  or  stressed'  condition 
that  will  put  a  burden  on  these  little  boys  and  girls.  Let  us  go  forth  and 
see  if  we  can't  find  some  way  to  make  the  whole  nation  better  than  she  is 
and  put  the  people  together  while  we  have  a  chance.  So  much  for  civics. 

PRODUCTION   AND  DISTRIBUTION. 

When  the  man  power  develops  itself,  which  is  the  first  Job,  there  are 
but  four  jobs  left.  On  this  side  of  the  wheel  is  the  word  "Production." 
There  are  two  kinds  of  production.  On  this  side  is  "Distribution."  There 
are  two  kinds  of  distribution.  There  are  two  method's  of  production — raw 
materials  and  finished  products.  There  are  only  four  kinds  of  raw  materials 
in  the  world — water  products,  forestry  products,  mining  products  and  pro- 
ducts of  the  field. 

What  proportion  does  agriculture  bear  to  all  the  raw  products  of  the 
Nation?  It  is  fair  to  say  that  seventy  per  cent  of  all  the  raw  products  in  the 
world'  come  from  the  farm.  Seventy  cents  of  the  raw  material  dollar  then  is 
the  farm  dollar,  and  the  whole  farming  problem  is  suffering.  Now  let  us 
see  what  the  government  is  spending  every  year  for  you  as  farmers  and  as 
merchants  and  bankers.  We  spent  five  and  a  half  billion  dollars  last  year  to 
run  the  American  government.  Ninety-three  percent  of  it  was  spent  in  the 
payment  of  our  past  war  debts  and  maintaining  the  army  and  navy.  One 
percent  of  the  hundred  went  to  education  and  agriculture,  and  one-third  of 
one  per  cent  was  all  that  agriculture  got.  Therefore  one-third  of  one  per 
cent,  or  thirty  cents  out  of  every  hundred  dollars  in  our  Nation  today,  is 
devoted  to  the  thing  that  makes  seventy  cents  of  every  dollar.  It  is  wrong. 
We  can't  get  much  more  money  from  the  government — we  are  doing  better 
than  we  did  twenty  years  ago,  but  we  haven't  got  the  money  in  our  govern- 
ment treasury  to  spend.  So  you,  as  farmers — and  you  as  doctors,  lawyers, 
merchants,  preachers  and  teachers  must  get  behind  agriculture.  That  is 
what  we  are  preaching.  You  must  do  the  thing  in  the  local  community. 
The  town  here,  and  the  towns  in  every  country — the  cities  must  work  hand 
in  hand  with  the  farmer  and  with  his  farm  organizations.  We  must  get 
closer  together.  We  must  find  a  way  to  educate  the  county  agent  and  help 
him.  Years  ago  we  found  it  hard  to  get  much  work  done  in  the  club  work 
among  the  farmers.  How  easy  it  is  today  in  the  town  to  do  these  things 
where  all  men  and  women  folks  get  behind  it,  and  how  hard  it  is  when 
some  man  or  woman  gets  out  alone  in  social  work,  or  farm  club  work. 

Let  me  tell  you  how  you  can  help.  You  all  know  it,  but  let  me  sug- 
gest it  anyway.  Get  in  behind  your  farm  bureau,  your  grange  and  your 
farm  organizations;  get  in  behind  your  Chamber  of  Commerce  now — not 
tomorrow,  or  next  week  or  next  year.  Become  members  in  both  organiza- 
tions, the  farmer  organization  and  the  city  organizations.  Have  a  mixed 


86 

board  of  directors  in  each  in  order  that  they  might  pass  upon  the  problems 
that  are  dependent  upon  each  other.  Let  us  work  together  in  the  future  in 
a  common  cause  to  save  humanity  as  we  did  in  the  last  few  years  during 
the  great  war  we  had. 

TRANSPORTATION — RIVER,   RAIL  AND   TRUCK. 

We  next  turn  to  transportation.  When  we  create  things  we  must  move 
them.  We  have  neglected  transportation  for  years.  We  have  failed  to  build 
roads  because  taxes  were  high;  a  state  which  has  to  compete  with  a  state 
with  good  roads  can't  compete  unless  it  has  roads  which  are  equal  to  its 
sister  states.  Then  we  have  river  and  rail  transportation,  and  now  we  are 
carrying  stuff  by  aeroplane.  Transportation  must  be  unified;  river,  rail  and 
truck  must  become  the  tripod  of  transportation,  and  every  effort  must  be 
made  by  all  citizens  to  place  these  three  forces  of  transportation  so  that  they 
might  co-operate  and  not  fight  for  their  existence. 

MANUFACTURING. 

Then  we  have  manufacturing.  In  order  to  convert  raw  materials  into 
finished  products  we  must  have  manufactories.  We  need  labor  in  the  factory 
and  labor  on  the  farm  nearer  balanced  than  it  is.  When  a  man  puts  the 
price  of  labor  up  in  a  factory,  it  affects  labor  on  the  farm.  When  the  price 
of  labor  in  the  factory  went  up,  with  a  high  wage  scale  and  short  hours, 
thirty  thousand  farmers  closed  their  doors  in  Michigan  and  moved  into 
the  city  of  Detroit  and  other  cities.  Why?  Because  the  job  was  better.  We 
can't  blame  those  fellows.  Too  much  of  that  kind  of  work  in  the  Nation 
puts  men  and  families  idle,  slackens  buying — and  then  corn,  wheat,  oats 
and  everything  slacks  up.  Here  is  a  lesson  we  must  teach  everybody  in  this 
country.  That  no  two  million  men  in  the  United  States  can  tell  the  rest 
of  us  forty  million  workers  what  we  can,  or  cannot  do. 

COMMERCE. 

The  last  segment  is  Commerce.  Gentlemen  of  the  city,  this  interests 
you  and  gentlemen  of  the  farm,  it  should  interest  you.  We  have  to  have 
banks.  The  banks  don't  belong  to  the  bankers;  the  banks  belong  to  you. 
The  banks  are  places  where  you  deposit  money.  You  must  not  be  too 
severe  with  the  banker  because  he  does  not  lend  you  money.  He  is  the  cus- 
todian of  your  funds  and  you  are  going  to  be  severe  with  him  if  he  does 
not  take  very  good  care  of  it.  Then  comes  the  doctor,  lawyer,  engineer,  ad- 
vertising man,  publicity  man  and  the  insurance  man — all  necessary  in  your 
life  and  my  life.  The  city  man  is  a  necessary  adjunct.  We  must  have  our 
central  trading  places  in  which  to  go.  We  must  have  our  courts,  our  finan- 
cial centers,  our  great  social  centers.  We  must  have  a  place  to  distribute 
our  own  goods,  therefore  the  city,  friends,  is  ours,  the  town  is  ours.  Let  us 
learn  to  say  "My  town"  and  "My  county,"  and  not  criticise  the  town  or 
country.  Let  us  say  it  is  one  great  regiment  of  soldiers  who  must  fight 
together.  If  we  fail  in  the  farm  business,  we  are  going  to  fail  in  the  city 
business,  so  let  us  equalize  the  burden  of  all  parts  of  the  great  wheel  in  the 
future. 

Don't  allow  this  wheel  to  be  thrown  out  of  balance.  If  distribution  is 
outweighted  in  the  scale  of  life  by  production  it  causes  the  whole  Nation 
to  go  out  of  balance.  The  whole  distribution  segment  has  fallen  over,  and 
unless  we  stop  it  now  it  is  going  to  pull  the  entire  wheel  structure  to  pieces. 

So  here  is  the  disease  of  the  great  American  people  as  we  see  it — lack 
of  understanding,  a  conflict,  and  the  cogs  don't  mesh  in  the  wheel  and  they 
are  out  of  gear.  Now  let  us  stay  right  on  the  job  and  find  out  what  this 
trouble  is,  oil  it  up  and  put  it  back  to  work.  Then  if  we  get  it  back,  even 
if  it  takes  fifty  years,  let  us  bring  it  back  to  an  economic  balance,  and  see 
to  it  that  when  we  get  it  in  balance  it  won't  go  over  the  other  way. 


87 


"HOW   MUCH   CAN   I   PUT  INTO  IT.*" 

In  conclusion  let  me  say  this:  We  are  all  today  in  the  great  wheel 
of  Progress;  we  are  all  placed  in  certain  segments,  and  the  strength  of  each 
segment  depends  upon  the  individual  service  of  the  people  in  that  segment, 
tbeir  love  of  country  and  love  of  community.  You  can't  do  the  job  without 
loving  your  neighbor.  Do  something  every  day  for  somebody  else.  Learn 
to  love  each  other  more  than  you  do.  There  isn't  a  mother  who  gave  up 
a  boy,  nor  a  sister  or  father,  that  said  before  the  war,  "Well,  what  do  I 
get  out  of  it  by  giving  that  boy?"  There  wasn't  a  boy  who  put  the  uniform 
on  that  said,  "What  is  there  in  it  for  me?  What  do  I  get  out  of  it?  I  go  over 
there  and  fight  for  you  men,  but  what  do  I  get  out  of  it?"  He  didn't  say 
that.  They  learned  the  big  idea  in  life,  "That  it  is  a  good  thing  to  serve." 
There* wasn't  a  mother  who  said:  "Your  boy  can  go  first  and  be  killed.  Let 
my  boy  be  second,  or  third."  No,  the  mothers  turned  like  loyal  women  and 
said,  "Take  my  boy  and,  if  necessary,  his  life;  he  must  fight  for  his  country 
first."  That  was  the  spirit  that  won  the  war. 

Let  us  go  forward  as  neighbors  and'  friends  all  over  the  state  of  Illinois. 
The  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce  will  be  glad  to  help.  We  want  to  work 
with  you.  We  want  you  to  work  with  us.  We  are  only  a  part  of  you. 
Therefore,  let  us  go  forth — all  of  us — in  life  and  follow  the  great  motto  that 
it  isn't  a  question  of  how  much  I  can  get  out  of  it,  but  let  us  say  to  our- 
selves every  day:  "How  much  can  I  put  into  it?" 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  rules  provide  that  the  president  of  the  In- 
stitute each  year  shall  give  a  short  address,  and  if  you  will  stay  a  little 
longer  we  will  impose  that  on  you. 


PRESIDENT'S  ADDRESS. 
(Frank  I.  Mann.) 

Th  last  act  in  Creation  was  the  creation  of  man,  and  to  man  was  given 
dominion  over  all  that  had  been  created,  with  three  injunctions:  to  multiply, 
replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it.  The  human  race  has  multiplied1  until 

it  covers  the  four  corners  of  the  earth;  the  wild 
plants  and  wild  animals  have  been  subdued  for 
the  use  of  man,  as  evidenced  by  the  wonderful 
wheat  plant  from  the  wild  weed  and  the  more 
wonderful  dairy  cow  from  the  wild  beast;  but 
no  people  have  ever  yet  replenished  the  earth. 
Because  the  earth  has  not  been  replenished, 
there  have  been  wars,  famines,  pestilences, 
crimes  and  ignorances:  wars  of  conquest,  for 
land  on  which  to  grow  food;  famines,  because 
of  land  exhaustion;  pestilences,  because  of  in- 
adequate food;  crimes  and  ignorance,  because 
pepole  cannot  develop  morally  and  intellectu- 
ally when  they  must  struggle  for  mere  physi- 
cal existence.  Wars  will  not  cease,  nor  will 
crime  and  ignorance  be  overcome  until  the  in- 
junction to  replenish  the  earth  is  observed. 


Frank   I.    Mann 


A    LEADER   IN    ORGANIZATION. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history  there 
are  organizations  of  men  founded  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  earth's  replenishment.  The  Illi- 
nois Farmers'  Institute  took  the  lead  among  these  organizations,  and  it 
has  been  steadfast  in  its  extension  of  these  principles.  It  was  because  of  the 
efforts  of  this  organization  that  the  University  of  Illinois  through  its  Col- 
lege of  Agriculture  made  a  study  of  the  soils  and  soil  problems,  and  de- 
veloped the  Illinois  Permanent  System  of  Agriculture,  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  which  is  replenishment.  It.  was  largely  through  the  efforts  of  the 


Farmers'  Institute  that  the  College  of  Agriculture  was  so  highly  developed 
that  it  was  able  to  solve  this  great  problem  which  has  perplexed  human- 
kind for  so  many  ages. 

The  Farm  Bureau  and  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Association  was  also 
founded  on  the  principles  of  the  earth  replenishment;  and  permanent  agri- 
culture is  nearest  to  the  heart  of  the  County  Adviser  and  these  associations. 
The  Farmers  Institute  paved  the  way  for  the  County  Adviser  and  the  Farm 
Bureau  in  Illinois,  and  it  should  be  proud  of  the  fact.  The  extension  of 
scientific  knowledge  by  the  institute  to  the  farmers  of  the  state  so  lowered 
their  prejudice  and  raised  their  confidence  that  they  became  willing  to  advise 
with  scientifically  trained  men  under  the  name  of  an  adviser.  This  seems 
to  be  true  in  no  other  state,  as  the  corresponding  official  in  other  states 
are  called  agents,  secretaries,  etc. 

The  Farm  Bureau  and  its  state  and  national  associations  are  essentially 
business  organizations;  organizations  to  aid  the  farmers  in  solving  the  de- 
tails of  many  problems — problems  of  securing  raw  materials  needed  in  land 
replenishment;  problems  relating  to  the  distribution  of  products,  and  various 
other  economic  problems;  the  efforts  being  extended  largely  to  those  holding 
memberships.  While  these  problems  are  of  deep  importance,  and  especially 
pressing  at  present  because  of  the  break  down  in  a  part  of  the  world  machin- 
ery, the  problems  of  production  are  also  likely  to  be  pressing  in  a  short 
time,  both  as  individual  and  world  propositions. 

There  is  no  conflict  between  the  Farmers  Institute  and  the  Farm  Bureau 
and  the  state  association.  As  a  rule  the  utmost  harmony  prevails.  The 
lines  of  activity  of  both  are  clearly  enough  defined  to  provoke  no  conflict. 
If  there  have  been  points  of  friction  it  has  been  because  men  lacked'  wisdom, 
and  not  due  to  any  lack  of  harmony  between  the  organizations.  There  are 
stronger  farm  bureaus  and  better  farmers  institutes  where  there  is  the  best 
co-operation  between  the  two. 

OPEN   MEMBERSHIP — SERVICE   TO   ALL. 

The  farmers  institute  has  been  criticised  sometimes  because  of  the  loose- 
ness of  its  organization.  It  is  true  we  have  a  loose,  or  open  organization. 
There  are  no  paid  memberships;  no  fees  and  no  dues.  All  who  wish  to  be 
are  members.  Memberships  are  open  to  all  alike;  the  rich  or  poor;  the 
proud  or  humble,  have  an  equal  voice  in  institute  affairs.  The  superstruc- 
ture of  the  institute  rests  on  the  farmer  himself;  he  it  is  who  decides  what 
the  farmers'  problems  are,  and  how,  when  and  where  they  may  be  given 
consideration.  Every  one  has  an  equal  right  to  say  who  the  institute  officers 
will  be;  the  times  and  places  of  meetings,  what  subjects  to  be  discussed  and 
who  the  speakers  will  be.  It  is  because  of  its  form  of  organization  that 
the  institute  is  able  to  give  consideration  to  the  problems  of  the  humblest 
farmer  as  well  as  those  of  the  more  successful.  As  the  institute  is  based  on 
the  farmers'  problems  it  has  no  place  for  party  politics,  or  for  the  jealousies 
of  political  leaders.  The  Institute  so  far  has  not  wavered  from  its  line  of 
duty,  and  may  that  day  never  come  when  it  will  forget  its  true  functions. 

In  some  other  states  they  also  have  farmers  institutes.  In  some  cases 
the  farmers  institutes  are  managed  by  a  department  of  the  college  of  agri- 
culture, or  by  an  appointed  board  of  management.  In  such  cases,  the  times 
and  places  of  meetings,  the  subjects  discussed'  and  the  speakers  who  discuss 
them,  are  all  arranged  without  considering  the  desires  and  wishes  of  those  • 
who  are  to  be  benefited.  It  is  fair  to  assume  that  this  type  of  institutes 
will  not  do  the  good,  nor  will  they  have  such  an  influence  as  when  the  meet- 
ings are  planned  and  conducted  by  those  who  are  the  most  interested. 

A  few  years  ago  the  women  rather  pushed  themselves  into  the  Insti- 
tute and  demanded  that  consideration  be  given  to  the  problems  they  were 
meeting.  It  was  much  the  same  with  the  Institute  as  with  the  colleges 
of  agriculture;  as  Dean  Bailey  said,  there  being  no  other  place  for  domestic 
science  the  college  of  agriculture  had  to  adopt  it.  Fortunately,  the  Insti- 
tute adopted  domestic  science  and  formed  such  a  department.  We  recog- 
nize that  the  problems  of  the  home  are  just  as  much  problems  for  the 


89 

farmer  as  for  the  farmers  wife.  We  now  realize  that  our  Domestic  Science 
Department  is  the  better  half  of  our  organization.  The  women  deserve 
all  we  can  give  them. 

A  word  should  be  said  regarding  the  devotion  of  institute  officers  and 
speakers.  The  Farmers  Institute  is  a  public  service  institution.  Its  only 
motive  is  to  render  service — to  give  service  to  the  most  humble  farmer 
and  the  farmer's  wife;  and  those  who  bear  its  burdens  must  be  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  rendering  service.  It  is  true  that  some  who  give  much 
time  receive  some  compensation,  but  such  compensation  is  small  compared 
to  the  sacrifice  that  must  commonly  be  made.  Those  who  have  tried  to 
use  the  Institute  for  personal  gain,  or  private  ambition,  have  realized  their 
delusion  and  soon  dropped  out.  Those  who  are  steadfast  to  their  prin- 
ciples in  rendering  service  will  continue  to  be  familiar  names  in  county 
and  state  institutes. 

WHAT    OF    THE    FUTURE? 

We  should  not  be  depressed  because  the  problems  of  distribution,  made 
acute  temporarily  by  the  breakdown  in  the  world  machinery  of  finance 
and  transportation,  must  be  given  immediate  attention.  The  acute  stage 
of  these  problems  will  no  doubt  be  soon  solved,  while  adequate  food  pro- 
duction will  remain  a  world  problem.  Who  knows  how  soon  it  may  become 
a  pressing  problem  in  this  country?  We  have  already  drawn  out  of  the 
soils  of  the  United  States  about  one-half  the  virgin  fertility,  and  under 
excessive  soil  stimulation  we  are  still  reaping  abundantly.  It  may  not 
be  long  until  the  demand  will  come  for  the  American  farmer  to  try  to 
produce  more  abundantly  than  ever  before.  Large  areas  of  land  are  now 
within  a  step  .of  abandonment,  made  so  by  the  various  methods  of  rapid 
exhaustion.  This  state  must  take  the  lead  in  promulgating  the  principles 
of  permanent  agriculture,  and  the  Institute  must  continue  to*  do  its  share 
in  this  great  work;  and  there  is  much  to  be  done. 

The  Institute  has  recognized  that  in  the  home  life  of  people  there  may 
come  inspiration  for  a  higher  development  and  more  worthy  achievements. 
The  Institute  is  committed  to  the  cause  of  home  building,  and  there  is 
much  work  ahead  for  it  in  this  line. 

The  Institute  also  recognizes  the  value  of  true  education  in  lifting 
people  out  of  the  mire  of  ignorance  and  crime,  and  in  the  future  it  will 
continue  to  do  all  it  can  towards  developing  better  schools  for  all  classes. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  Farmers  Institute  had  about  reached  the 
end  of  its  needs;  that  its  work  was  about  done.  How  can  this  be,  when 
so  much  remains  to  be  done  along  the  lines  it  is  working?  The  work  of 
the  Farmers  Institute  is  hardly  begun.  As  long  as  there  is  need  for  a 
permanent  agriculture;  as  long  as  there  is  need  for  better  crops;  as  long 
as  there  is  need  for  improved  homes;  as  long  as  there  is  need  for  more 
efficient  schools,  there  will  be  work  for  the  Farmers  Institute;  and  as  long 
as  the  Farmers  Institute  continues  to  render  unselfish  service  and  to  per- 
form its  proper  functions,  just  so  long  will  the  Institute  live  and  prosper. 
And  may  its  end  never  come. 

I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Tomorrow  evening  at  seven  o'clock  the  Mon- 
mouth  High  School  Band  will  begin  a  program  of  music.  Our  regular 
program  will  begin  at  7:30.  We  stand  adjourned. 


THURSDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 


February  23,  1922,  9  o'clock  A.  M. 

Male  Quartette Monmouth   Glee  Club 

Invocation Rev.  W.  H.   Craine 

Vocal  Duet Doris  and  Dorothy  Sites 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  We  will  have  first  this  morning  "Swine  Disease 
Control"  by  Dr.  Jas.  A.  McDonald  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  at 
Washington. 


90 


Dr.  Jas.  A.  McDonald 


SWINE   DISEASE    CONTROL. 
(Dr.  Jas.  McDonald.) 

GENTLEMEN:  The  subject  of  Swine  Disease  Control  I  believe  has  been 
discussed  through  the  papers,  through  the  press  and  through  the  associa- 
tions at  different  times  more  than  any  other  one  subject  that  confronts 

the  farmer  at  this  time.  Swine  disease  con- 
trol is  a  subject  that  has  .attracted  attention, 
particularly  along  the  lines  of  scientific  re- 
search, for  a  period  of  several  years  and  recent 
efforts  have  accomplished  a  considerable  re- 
duction in  losses,  but  as  yet  no  plan  has  been 
perfected  that  promises  the  eradication  of 
these  diseases.  . 

There  were  4,585,000  hogs  on  farms  in  Illi- 
nois January  1,  1921,  valued  at  $13.70  per 
head,  a  total  value  of  $62,814,500.  For  the  year 
ending  April  30,  1921,  206,325  hogs  died  from 
disease,  a  monetary  loss  of  $2,826,652.  The 
business  of  animal  production  is  attended 
with  losses  from  disease  sometimes  disheart- 
ening in  character.  Diseases  and  conditions 
among  swine  have  been  reported  in  Illinois 
during  the  past  year  as  follows: 

Hog  cholera,  hemorrhagic  septicemia,  mixed 
infection,  swine  plague,  necrotic  enteritis, 
necro-bacillosis,  pneumonia,  parasites,  poster- 
ior paralysis,  "Flu",  dysentery,  indigestion, 
chemical  and  forage  poison,  tuberculosis,  dar- 
matitis,  tetanus,  rickets,  rheumatism,  gastri- 
tis, thumps,  injuries,  exposure  and  scours. 

Tuberculosis  in  swine  is  prevalent  and  gradually  on  the  increase  each 
year.  In  some  establishments  where  federal  inspection  is  maintained,  the 
hogs  retained  for  tuberculosis  are  40  per  cent  of  the  kill.  The  importance 
of  this  disease  should  not  be  overlooked,  for  more  animals  are  condemned 
from  this  cause  than  any  other  disease  in  establishments  where  federal  in- 
spection is  maintained,  and  many  pure  bred  hogs  are  affected  unknown  to 
the  owners. 

During  the  last  two  or  three  years  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  dis- 
cussion among  recognized  authorities  as  to  these  different  diseases  and  the 
mixed  infections,  hemorrhagic  septicemia  and  such  as  that,  but  of  late  the 
authorities  who  are  not  interested  financially  in  the  manufacture  of  remedies 
for  these  conditions  have  concluded  that  hog  cholera  is  the  one  disease  that 
kills  most  of  the  hogs.  Along  with  that  we  have  this  so-called  "Flu",  and 
necrotic  enteritis.  They  are  the  next  to  hog  cholera  in  the  destruction  of 
the  hogs  in  this  state. 

INFECTIOUS   BRONCHITIS — "FLU". 

The  term  "Flu"  came  into  use  about  the  same  time  that  influenza  was 
prevalent  in  the  human  subject.  It  appears  to  be  a  highly  contagious  form 
of  bronchitis,  or  bronchial  pneumonia,  the  causative  agent  of  which  is  nol 
known.  The  disease  occurs  in  hogs  that  have  been  recently  changed  from 
pastures  to  full  feed,  especially  a  diet  rich  in  protein.  The  disease  frequent 
ly  appears  at  fairs,  where  hogs  have  been  fed  for  show  purposes  and  theii 
movements  limited  to  small  pens,  and  where  the  heavy  feeding  has  been 
followed  by  chilly  nights  of  autumn  and  cold  days  and  nights  of  winter. 

This  disease  is  characterized  by  sudden  onset  and  spreads  rapidly  in 
the  herd.  The  temperatures  in  typical  outbreaks  range  from  104°  to  108°  F., 
and  usually  drop  to  between  103°  and  104°  the  third  day  when,  if  the  hogs 
survive,  they  are  usually  back  on  feed.  Spasmodic  breathing,  or  thumps, 
is  one  of  the  first  symptoms  noted.  The  hog  will  sit  on  its  haunches  or  lie 


91 

on  its  breast  and,  when  urged  to  move,  will  have  violent  fits  of  coughing. 
Some  will  vomit  stringy  mucous  the  first  day,  markedly  tinged  with  bile; 
eyes  are  red,  swollen,  and  weeping;  the  discharge  from  the  nose  is  often 
streaked  with  blood;  and  there  is  a  loss  of  appetite  in  the  acute  febrile 
st.ge,  which  usually  returns  with  the  drop  in  temperature  in  two  or  three 
days. 

Thrifty,  growing  shoats  and  young  hogs  are  most  susceptible.  Thin, 
poorly  fed  and  unthrifty  hogs  seem  to  be  singularly  free  from  the  disease. 
The  treatment  for  this  disease  is  almost  entirely  hygienic,  placing  the  herd 
in  dry,  clean,  well-bedded  quarters,  with  plenty  of  fresh  air  and  free  from 
draughts,  an  abundance  of  clean,  fresh  water,  and  little  or  no  food  for 
twenty-four  hours.  Usually  a  herd  that  is  affected  in  this  way  will  recover 
without  any  other  treatment. 

Hog  cholera  virus  should  not  be  given  to  hogs  suffering  from  this  dis- 
ease and,  if  cholera  appears  in  the  herd  while  in  this  condition,  serum  alone 
treatment  should  be  given  and  followed  later  by  the  simultaneous  method 
to  insure  lasting  immunity. 

NECBOTIC   ENTERITIS. 

Necrotis  enteritis  is  a  disease  of  pigs  which  may  be  mistaken  for  hog 
cholera  and  which  results  in  great  losses  to  hog  raisers  in  Illinois.  That 
this  disease  does  exist  independent  of  hog  cholera  is  established  and  al- 
though it  may  stimulate  hog  cholera  in  some  respects,  there  are  diagnostic 
features  that  sharply  define  this  disease. 

It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  causal  organism  is  of  the  group  which  in- 
habit the  intestinal  tract  and  infect  soil  which  is  rich  in  decayed  vegetable 
matter.  The  warm  rains  of  spring  and  fall  seem  to  favor  the  growth  of 
these  organisms,  as  the  disease  is  prevalent  at  these  periods.  When  a  hog 
lot,  which  is  low  and  wet,  once  becomes  infected,  the  disease  persists  year 
after  year.  Pigs  pick  up  the  infection  with  their  food.  Suckling  pigs  may 
become  infected  when  the  sow's  teats  are  contaminated.  The  age  predis- 
poses to  infection,  as  the  disease  is  seen  in  pigs  up  to  six  months,  most 
frequently  showing  from  the  second  to  the  fourth  month;  older  hogs  seem 
to  be  resistant.  The  disease  is  sometimes  seen  after  lye  or  other  caustic 
agents  have  been  fed. 

The  disease  assumes  a  chronic  character,  the  pigs  show  a  general  un- 
thrifty appearance,  lack  of  growth,  the  hair  looks  dead,  the  skin  dry  and 
scurvy,  the  feces  being  thin,  yellowish,  and  peculiarly  offensive,  while  the 
pig  becomes  emaciated,  yet  has  little  temperature,  and  the  appetite  usually 
persists  throughout  the  disease,  which  is  a  marked  contrast  to  cholera. 

The  treatment  for  this  disease  is  largely  through  sanitation.  After 
separating  the  well  from  the  sick,  remove  the  well  to  a  clean  pasture  if  in 
summer;  in  the  winter,  remove  to  a  clean,  dry,  sheltered  place,  disinfect 
houses  and  troughs  with  standard  disinfectant  and  lime;  plow  up  infected 
lots  if  possible.  Many  pigs  may  be  saved  in  the  early  stages  by  treating 
with  intestinal  antiseptics  and  mineral  or  linseed  oil.  Feed  soft  feeds,  and 
see  that  the  drinking  water  is  pure.  Do  not  inject  virus  into  pigs  in  this 
condition.  If  cholera  should  appear  in  a  herd  affected  with  necrotic  en- 
teritis, use  serum  alone  and,  after  the  hogs  have  recovered,  retreat  with 
serum  and  virus  to  insure  lasting  immunity  from  cholera. 

HOG   CHOLERA — SYMPTOMS    AND    TREATMENT. 

The  symptoms  of  hog  cholera  differ  in  different  hogs  and  in  different 
herds,  depending  upon  the  strength  of  the  germs  and  the  resisting  power  of 
the  hogs.  As  a  result  of  these  variations  the  disease  has  been  said  to  exist 
in  two  forms,  acute  and  chronic,  though  the  germ  is  the  same  in  both.  In 
the  acute  or  severe  type  hogs  sicken  and  die  quickly,  so  that  the  farmers 
will  say  that  a  hog  which  is  found  dead  in  the  morning  was  well  the  night 
before.  In  the  chronic  or  less  severe  type  hogs  may  be  sick  for  weeks  or 
months  before  they  succumb. 


92 

When  cholera  begins  in  a  herd  the  hogs  do  not  all  become  sick  at  once, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  only  one  or  two  will  refuse  to  come  up  to  feed'  with 
the  herd.  They  will  remain  hidden  in  the  nest,  and  when  driven  from  the 
bed  their  backs  may  be  arched  and  they  may  appear  cold  and  shiver.  The 
balance  of  the  herd  may  remain  apparently  well  for  several  days,  when 
others  are  likely  to  be  found  affected  in  about  the  same  way  as  those  first 
attacked.  As  the  disease  progresses,  the  sick  hogs  become  gaunt  or  tucked 
up  in  the  flank,  and  have  a  weak  staggering  gait,  the  weakness  being  most 
marked  in  the  hind  legs. 

If  the  lungs  are  effected  there  may  be  a  cough  which  is  particularly 
noticeable  when  the  hogs  are  disturbed.  The  eyes  usually  are  inflamed  and 
show  a  whitish  discharge,  which  may  cause  the  lids  to  stick  together. 

Constipation,  which  is  commonly  present  in  the  early  days  of  the  disease, 
is  generally  followed  by  a  diarrhoea.  As  the  disease  reaches  its  height, 
red  or  purplish  blotches  are  likely  to  appear  upon  the  skin  of  the  ears,  of  the 
belly,  and  of  the  inner  surfaces  of  the  legs. 

Some  of  the  symptoms  mentioned  may  be  present  in  other  diseases, 
but  the  owner  should  remember  that  cholera  spreads  rapidly  through  a  herd, 
and  too  much  time  should  not  be  lost  in  undertaking  to  distinguish  it  from 
some  other  disease. 

The  temperature  of  the  hogs  is  of  such  importance  in  diagnosing  cholera. 
The  normal  temperature  in  ordinary  weather  when  the  hogs  are  not  excited 
or  worried  will  range  from  101°  to  104°F.,  but  when  cholera  is  present  it 
is  not  uncommon  to  find  a  large  proportion  of  the  hogs  with  temperatures 
from  104°  to  107°,  and  even  higher. 

The  important  changes  found  in  the  carcass  after  death  from  hog  cholera 
are  as  follows: 

1.  Purple  blotches  on  the  skin. 

2.  Blood-colored  spots  on  the  lungs,   on  the  surface  of  the  heart,   on 
the  kidneys,  and  on  the  outer  surface  and  inner  linging  of  the  intestines 
and  the  stomach. 

3.  Reddening  of  the  lymphatic  glands. 

4.  Enlargement  of  the  spleen,  in  acute  cases. 

5.  Ulceration  of  the  inner  lining  of  the  large  intestine. 

Any  one  or  all  of  these  changes  may  be  found  in  a  hog  which  has  died 
from  hog  cholera.  It  is  rare  to  find  all  in  any  one  case.  In  the  lingering 
or  chronic  cases  of  hog  cholera  it  is  usual  to  find  the  intestinal  buttonlike 
ulcers,  while  the  blood-colored  spots  described  above  are,  as  a  rule,  found 
only  in  the  acute  cases. 

HOW  THE  DISEASE  IS   SPREAD. 

Hog  cholera  destroys  about  90  per  cent  of  all  hogs  that  die  from  disease. 
It  is  an  infectious  disease,  due  to  a  specific  cause,  hog  cholera  virus.  The 
virus  is  known  to  develop  only  in  the  body  of  hogs.  Therefore,  the  sick 
hog  must  be  considered  the  primary  source  of  danger  to  a  community.  Hog 
cholera  virus  is  eliminated  from  the  sick  animal  in  the  urine,  faces,  and 
secretions  of  the  eyes  and  nose.  The  blood  of  sick  animals  also  contains 
the  virus,  so  that  the  entire  carcass  of  a  hog  dead  from  cholera  is  dangerous. 

With  this  knowledge  at  hand,  any  attempt  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the 
disease  must  be  directed  towards  the  infected  animals  and  such  objects  as 
may  become  contaminated  with  his  excretions. 

Transportation  of  hogs,  especially  by  rail,  has  resulted  in  the  almost 
universal  infection  of  stock  cars  and  public  stock  yards.  This  offers  an 
excellent  opportunity  for  spreading  infection  over  large  areas.  Stock  hogs 
being  shipped  to  various  localities,  having  their  natural  resistance  lowered 
due  to  the  exposure  of  shipment,  become  easy  victims  of  the  germs  of  hog 
cholera,  which  may  be  present  in  the  stock  yards  or  stock  cars.  Even 
though  the  hog  itself  does  not  become  infected  while  in  these  cars  or  yards, 
other  objects  to  which  manure,  bedding  or  dirt  may  adhere  can  carry  this 
infection.  Such  infected  material  may  cling  to  wagon  wheels,  feet  of  men 
and  horses  engaged  in  hauling  or  driving  the  hogs  to  the  farm  and  although 


93 

the  hogs  themselves  may  be  thoroughly  disinfected  and  isolated  on  reaching 
the  farm,  these  other  objects,  capable  of  carrying  the  infection,  must  not 
go  without  proper  attention. 

What  is  true  of  the  public  stock  yards  is  equally  true  of  the  infected 
farm.  While  the  public  stock  yards  may  act  as  a  seeder  of  hog  cholera  to 
many  widely  separated  farms,  an  infected  farm  is  even  a  greater  danger 
to  the  neighborhood.  The  shorter  the  distance  hog  cholera  germs  must  be 
carried  by  objects  other  than  sick  hogs,  the  greater  is  the  danger  of  in- 
fecting healthy  herds.  Men  trespassing  upon  infected  farms,  automobiles, 
farm  wagons,  implements,  dogs,  and  birds  may  readily  carry  infection  to 
nearby  herds,  unless  precautions  are  taken. 

Streams  passing  through  infected  pastures  or  feed  lots  may  carry  the 
virus  to  distant  farms.  Dead  hogs  allowed  to  lie  unburied  and  carcasses 
not  properly  disposed  of  become  bait  for  dogs,  buzzards,  and  crows,  which 
may  carry  portions  of  the  diseased  carcass  to  healthy  herds. 

The  practice  of  exchanging  farm  labor  in  threshing,  silo  filling,  and 
other  farm  enterprises  offers  another  avenue  for  spreading  cholera.  While 
this  exchange  of  help  cannot  be  readily  avoided,  its  danger  must  not  go  un- 
noticed. 

Purchase  of  new  stock,  lending  or  borrowing  breeding  stock  may  bring 
infection  to  the  unsuspecting  owner. 

Although  the  hogs  of  an  infected  farm  may  have  recovered  and  are 
themselves  no  longer  a  source  of  danger,  the  houses,  pens,  and  runways  in 
which  they  have  been  kept  may  remain  a  source  of  infection  unless  prop- 
erly cleaned  and  disinfected. 

When  consideration  is  given  the  great  number  of  avenues  by  which 
cholera  may  be  spread,  the  problem  confronting  the  owner  who  attempts  to 
keep  a  cholera-free  herd  is  readily  appreciated.  It  is  evident  that  by  em- 
ploying sanitary  measures  the  disease  can  be  controlled.  To  insure  suc- 
cess, sanitary  methods  must  not  be  employed  in  a  half-hearted  manner,  as 
only  the  most  energetic  and  painstaking  efforts  will  produce  satisfactory 
results. 

All  newly  purchased  animals,  especially  those  coming  through  public 
stock  yards,  should  at  least  have  their  feet  thoroughly  disinfected.  If  a 
dipping  tank  or  other  suitable  container  is  not  at  hand,  allowing  the  animals 
to  remain  for  an  hour  or  more  in  a  small  enclosure,  in  which  straw  has 
been  spread  to  a  depth  of  eight  or  ten  inches  and  soaked  with  a  disinfectant, 
is  beneficial. 

The  wagon  in  which  the  hogs  have  been  hauled  should  not  be  allowed 
to  stand  in  a  place  where  it  can  come  in  contact  with  the  remainder  of  the 
herd.  The  feeder  should  be  as  careful  in  going  from  newly  purchased  hogs 
to  those  already  on  the  farm  as  he  would  if  cholera  was  known  to  exist  in 
the  newly  acquired  animals. 

Feed  lots  and  pastures  are  best  located  when  situated  some  distance 
from  public  highway  and  away  from  streams  and  open  ditches.  The  less 
accessible  the  feed  lot  and  pasture  are  for  trespassing,  by  men,  vehicles, 
birds,  dogs  or  other  animals,  the  better  is  the  location. 

Hog  houses  and  pens  should  be  constructed  so  that  they  may  be  readily 
cleaned  and  disinfected.  Sunshine,  nature's  disinfectant,  should  be  admitted 
wherever  possible.  Yarding  of  vehicles,  farm  wagons,  implements,  etc.,  in 
hog  lots  is  undesirable.  The  feed  lot  so  situated  that  it  is  necessary  to  pass 
through  it  in  going  to  and  from  a  public  highway  is  an  invitation  for 
disaster. 

Newly  purchased  stock,  stock  borrowed  for  breeding  purposes  and  stock 
exhibited  at  fairs  should  not  be  immediately  placed  with  the  home  herd, 
but  preferably  such  animals  should  be  kept  in  a  pen  separate  from  the 
others  for  at  least  two  weeks.  This  will  allow  sufficient  time  for  hog  cholera 
to  develop  if  these  have  become  infected. 

Dead  animals,  even  if  they  did  not  die  from  cholera,  and  the  offal  at 
time  of  butchering  should  be  burned  completely  or  deeply  buried  to  avoid 
attracting  dogs,  which  may  travel  from  an  infected  lot  to  your  own. 


94 

WHEN   CHOLERA    APPEARS. 

When  cholera  appears  in  your  neighborhood  it  is  best  to  confine  your 
dog  and  request  your  neighbor  to  do  the  same. 

Should  cholera  appear  in  your  herd,  it  is  advisable  to  treat  all  sus- 
ceptible hogs.  Destroy  and  bury,  or  burn,  all  hopelessly  sick  animals. 
Confine  all  treated  animals  to  a  limited  range.  Collect  and  spread  all  manure 
in  field,  so  that  it  may  readily  be  reached  by  sunlight.  Burn  all  litter,  loose 
boards,  and  old  hog  troughs  which  may  harbor  hog  cholera  germs.  After 
removing  all  rubbish,  spray  the  walls  and  floors  with  a  good  disinfectant. 
Often  a  false  sense  of  security  is  obtained  by  the  owner  after  an  inefficient 
application  of  a  disinfectant.  To  secure  the  best  results,  all  objects  which 
have  become  contaminated  with  the  excretions  of  sick  hogs  must  be  thor- 
oughly saturated  with  the  disinfectant.  Unless  this  is  done,  ill  results  may 
follow  when  new  hogs  are  placed  in  these  inclosures.  When  hog  houses 
will  permit,  they  should  be  turned  so  as  to  expose  their  interior  to  the 
action  of  sunlight. 

Hog  wallows  and  cesspools  should  be  either  drained,  filled  in,  or  fenced 
off.  Runways  beneath  buildings  should  be  closed  to  prevent  hogs  entering. 

Now  I  recall  a  few  years  ago  one  place  where  under  an  old  barn  hogs 
had  died  fifteen  years  before,  and  there  came  a  storm  and  the  men  tore 
the  boards  off  from  underneath  this  old  barn  and  let  some  hogs  in  there, 
and  in  the  course  of  time,  the  required  time,  they  developed  hog  cholera. 
Undoubtedly  this  disease  had  stayed  under  that  old  barn  for  fifteen  years. 
Old  straw  stacks  should  be  removed  and  scattered  over  a  field  or  burned. 

Many  drugs  and  compounds  have  been  placed  on  the  market,  for  which 
great  claims  were  made  as  preventives  or  cures  of  this  disease.  Without 
exception,  anti-hog  cholera  serum  is  the  only  known  agent  capable  of  pro- 
tecting animals  against  hog  cholera.  The  method  of  producing  this  serum 
as  devised  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  can  be  sum- 
marized as  follows: 

THE    INOCULATION    TREATMENT. 

Hogs  that  have  been  rendered  immune  to  cholera  by  the  inoculation  of 
serum  and  virus  are  employed  in  the  production  of  anti-hog  cholera  serum. 
These  immune  animals  are  injected  with  a  large  quantity  of  blood  obtained 
from  cholera  sick  hogs.  The  injection  of  a  very  small  quantity  of  this  cholera 
blood  would  produce  disease  in  any  susceptible  hog,  but  with  the  immune 
animal  even  the  injection  of  large  amounts  of  this  blood  produces  no  ill 
results.  Ten  days  after  the  immune  hog  has  been  injected  with  the  cholera 
blood  his  own  blood  will  contain  a  large  amount  of  substances  which  will 
protect  against  this  disease.  The  protective  substances  or  anti-bodies  are 
so  concentrated  that  comparatively  small  amounts  of  the  blood  when 
injected  into  other  hogs  will  protect  them  against  cholera. 

The  question  arises,  "How  are  we  to,  know  that  this  blood  does 
contain  sufficient  amount  of  anti-bodies  to  protect  other  animals?"  Since  no 
animals  other  than  swine  are  susceptible  to  this  disease,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  inject  healthy  pigs  with  cholera  blood  and  at  the  same  time  administer  a 
dose  of  the  serum  to  be  tested.  Large  amounts  of  blood  obtained  from  many 
different  injected  immune  hogs  are  mixed  and  a  sample  taken  from  this 
mixture  is  used  for  the  test,  so  that  by  one  test  the  value  of  many  quarts 
of  serum  can  be  shown.  The  most  suitable  animals  for  test  purposes  are 
pigs  weighing  from  45  to  90  pounds.  Seven  healthy  pigs  are  used  for  each 
test.  Each  of  the  seven  pigs  is  injected  with  two  cubic  centimeters  of  the 
blood  from  cholera  sick  hogs.  Of  these  pigs,  five  receive  twenty  cubic  centi- 
meters of  the  blood  from  immune  hogs;  two  of  the  pigs  receive  no  serum; 
or,  in  other  words,  have  nothing  but  their  natural  resistance  to  withstand 
the  attack  of  the  disease.  If  the  serum  possesses  the  proper  protective 
power,  all  five  of  the  test  pigs  will  remain  healthy.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  receiving  the  cholera  blood  but  no  serum  will  take  the  disease  and 
die.  It  is  necessary  that  the  two  pigs  receiving  no  serum  sicken  not  earlier 


95 

than  the  fourth  day  nor  later  than  the  seventh  day  after  inoculation,  as  this 
is  considered  proof  that  all  the  pigs  are  susceptible  to  cholera  and  the  virus 
injected  was  sufficiently  active  to  produce  the  disease. 

All  serum  produced  under  federal  inspection  must  undergo  this  test. 
Now,  you  hear  considerable  about  one  serum  being  better  than  the  other, 
and  all  that,  but  all  that  is  manufactured  under  government  supervision 
undergoes  exactly  the  same  test,  and  there  should  be  no  difference  in  serums 
that  are  manufactured  under  government  supervision. 

No  set  rule  can  be  formulated  as  to  the  most  suitable  time  for  treat- 
ment. General  condition  of  the  herd,  prevalence  of  cholera,  size,  weight  and 
other  factors  play  important  parts  in  determining  the  time  of  treatment. 
As  a  general  statement,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  a  herd  should  be  treated 
immediately  upon  the  outbreak  of  cholera  within  it  or  where  the  disease 
occurs  upon  neighboring  farms.  Hogs  of  any  age  or  size  may  be  treated. 
Hogs  showing  physical  evidence  of  cholera  are  rarely  benefited  by  the  use 
of  serum,  while  those  in  the  initial  stage  of  the  disease  often  improve 
markedly  after  its  administration. 

SERUM   OB  VIBUS. 

Serum  treatment  is  generally  used  in  one  of  two  ways — either  serum 
alone  or  serum  and  virus  simultaneously. 

Since  anti-hog  cholera  serum  is  the  blood  of  highly  immunized  hogs 
capable  of  conferring  immunity  to  susceptible  animals,  it  will  readily  be 
seen  that  the  injection  of  serum  alone  can  in  no  way  produce  the  disease. 
Unfortunately  the  duration  of  an.  immunity  resulting  from  serum  only  is 
comparatively  short,  and  the  cost  of  treatment  is  virtually  the  same  as 
that  of  serum  and  virus  simultaneously.  The  immunity  conferred  by  the 
use  of  serum  and  virus  simultaneously  is,  if  not  permanent,  at  least  of  long 
duration.  This  treatment,  when  properly  applied  in  healthy  herds,  has 
given  most  gratifying  results  and  is  the  method  generally  used. 

The  resistance  of  individual  hogs  varies  greatly  and  can  be  accurately 
judged  by  no  one.  Lice,  intestinal  parasites,  other  diseases,  spoiled  feed, 
improper  housing,  etc.,  tend  to  lower  the  natural  resistance  of  an  animal, 
and  as  a  result  he  becomes  more  liable  to  disease.  When  serum  and  virus 
are  used  under  these  circumstances,  perfect  results  should  not  be  expected. 

The  results  of  treatment  of  swine  are  often  influenced  by  the  after  care 
of  the  herd.  During  the  first  ten  days  following  treatment  only  moderately 
light  feed  should  be  allowed.  Thereafter  they  should  be  gradually  returned 
to  the  full  grain  ration.  Pure  water,  clean  quarters,  exclusion  from  wallows 
and  stagnant  ponds  are  always  advisable. 

ESSENTIALS   IN   DISEASE   CONTROL. 

The  three  fundamental  essentials  for  the  control  of  swine  diseases  are 
vaccination,  quarantine  and  sanitation. 

Vaccination — Potent  serum,  virulent  virus,  properly  administered  in 
sufficient  dosage,  are  essential  to  insure  a  lasting  immunity  against  hog 
cholera. 

Quarantine,  voluntary  or  involuntary,  is  necessary  to  prevent  spread  of 
infection. 

Sanitation  is  both  a  preventive  and  a  control  measure.  A  good  definition 
for  the  word  sanitation  is,  all  that  can  be  done  to  preserve  health.  It  should 
be  the  object  of  the  owner  to  first  prevent  disease  by  the  proper  surround- 
ings. Animals  that  are  forced  to  live  in  unsanitary  quarters,  eat  their  food 
from  unsanitary  troughs  and  contaminated  ground,  and  drink  polluted  water 
cannot  thrive  as  well  as  those  kept  under  favorable  conditions. 

Germs  retain  their  disease  producing  power  for  a  long  time  in  dark, 
damp  places;  also,  the  eggs  and  larvae  of  internal  worms  and  lice  accumu- 
late in  the  refuse  and  soil. 

Disinfection  means  the  contact  application  of  a  germ  or  parasite 
destroying  agent.  Such  agents  are  effective  only  when  applied  directly  to 
the  germ  or  parasite  that  is  the  cause  of  the  disease.  Many  of  the  disin- 


96 

fectants  have  a  markedly  unpleasant  odor,  and  for  commercial  advantages 
much  credit  has  been  given  the  one  that  gives  the  most  offensive  odor.  The 
odor  does  not  destroy  the  disease  germs.  Again,  disinfectants  are  not  ail 
equally  applicable  to  the  destruction  of  all  disease  producing  germs;  there- 
fore, disinfectants  of  known  quality  should  be  used  for  particular  needs.  No 
single  disinfectant  is  appropriate  in  all  cases.  Select  the  proper  substance, 
apply  it  liberally,  allow  ample  time  for  the  disinfectant  to  do  its  work,  for 
success  depends  in  a  large  part  upon  the  care  and  exactness  of  the  person 
who  prepares  and  applies  the  disinfectant. 

I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Now  if  there  is  any  question  that  any  of  you 
would  like  to  ask  this  is  the  time  to  ask  it. 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  what  kind  of  a  floor  would  you  recommend  for 
a  hog  pen? 

Dr.  McDONALD :  That  depends  on  the  man  that  has  the  hog  house. 
Some  of  them  prefer  dirt  floors,  others  cement,  and  others  wooden  floors. 
Many  of  them  prefer  the  cement  floors  with  the  wooden  floor  on  top  of  it. 
a  floor  that  can  be  taken  off  of  the  cement  and  cleaned  out.  Really,  I  would 
not  know  which  to  recommend.  It  is  a  matter  of  opinion. 

Mr.  HAYNES:  Will  the  suckling  pigs  carry  that  immunity  through 
life? 

Dr.  McDONALD:  That  is  a  question  that  is  very  much  in  discussion. 
I  don't  believe  they  will.  The  chances  are  that  if  you  take  pigs  from  sows 
that  have  never  been  vaccinated  and  give  them  the  treatment  early,  up  to 
four  or  five  weeks  of  age,  they  may  retain  that  permanent  immunity,  but 
I  have  never  advised  anyone  that  had  to  vaccinate  his  pigs  that  early  to 
get  the  idea  that  he  might  have  immune  hogs.  I  always  advise  that  they 
revaccinate  them  after  they  get  older.  If  you  expect  to  keep  them  for 
breeding  purposes  I  would  advise  that  they  be  revaccinated  after  they  get 
older. 

Mr.  TULLOCK:  What  age  do  you  advise  is  about  the  best  age  for 
vaccination? 

Dr.  McDONALD:  The  best  age  for  all  purposes  is  a  week  before 
weaning  or  a  week  after  weaning.  I  don't  like  to  vaccinate  pigs  at  the  time 
you  take  them  off  the  nurse.  The  change  of  food  sometimes  makes  a  big 
difference. 

Mr.  HAYNES:  If  the  mother  has  not  been  vaccinated  you  would  have 
to  vaccinate  the  mother  too,  would  you  not,  at  that  time? 

Dr.  McDONALD:  I  certainly  would.  I  would  not  want  to  use  any 
virus  around  any  hogs  that  had  not  been  vaccinated.  I  would  not  let  any 
unvaccinated  hogs  come  in  contact  with  hogs  that  had  been  recently  vac- 
cinated. Dr.  Conway  has  proven  on  numerous  occasions  that  hogs  carried 
the  virus  in  their  blood  virulent  enough  to  produce  disease  in  nearly  all 
hogs  up  to  six  days  after  viccination,  and  he  has  produced  the  disease  with 
blood  drawn  twenty-one  days  after  vaccination  from  a  vaccinated  hog.  So 
virus  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  propositions  we  have  to  deal  with  in  the 
hog  raising  business. 

Mr.  TULLOCK:  In  the  case  of  hog  cholera,  after  inoculation,  under 
ordinary  conditions  how  much  time  would  have  to  elapse  before  it  would 
be  safe  to  restock? 

Dr.  McDONALD:  It  would  never  be  safe  to  restock  on  a  lot  that  was 
badly  infected  unless  it  was  thoroughly  disinfected.  You  take  a  lot  where 
they  were  feeding  cattle,  where  the  hogs  have  burrowed  deep  in  the  ground 
for  feed,  infection  will  stay  there  almost  indefinitely.  If  the  lot  can  be 
plowed  up  it  would  help  a  whole  lot.  The  sunlight  will  destroy  the  germ 
there  in  a  very  short  time,  but  in  a  damp,  cold  place  where  the  germs  can 
thrive  it  will  stay  almost  indefinitely. 

Q.     In  the  case  of  forage  poison  what  are  the  symptoms? 

Dr.  McDONALD:  They  vary.  Sometimes  you  don't  find  any  symptoms. 
Sometimes  they  die  so  quick  you  don't  see  them.  Sometimes  they  lie  with- 
out any  temperature  and  apparently  in  a  comatose  condition,  the  tempera- 
ture may  be  subnormal,  and  lie  that  way  for  maybe  twenty-four  hours 


97 

before  they  die.  And  again  they  may  take  on  the  cerebral  symptoms.  They 
may  act  like  they  are  crazy,  and  sometimes  they  Jump  in  the  air  and  fall 
over  dead.  That  depends  on  the  different  poisons.  The  symptoms  vary 
considerably. 

Q.  Should  the  sick  hogs  be  given  both  treatments  when  they  are 
vaccinated,  both  the  virus  and  serum? 

Mr.  McDONALD:  That  depends  on  circumstances.  We  always  made  it 
a  point  to  give  the  hogs  both  treatments,  regardless  of  whether  they  were 
sick  or  well.  I  can't  see  where  the  addition  of  two  cubic  centimeters  of 
virus  in  hogs  that  already  had  a  quart  of  virus  in  them  makes  any  difference. 
Where  you  go  into  a  herd  that  is  sick  with  cholera  and  take  temperatures, 
which  everyone  should  do  to  determine  the  condition  of  the  herd,  if  you 
chase  the  pigs  around  you  are  liable  to  increase  their  temperatures  from 
excitement.  In  that  case  if  you  give  serum  alone  you  would  only  have  a 
temporary  immunity  in  the  hog  which  later  on  would  come  down  with 
cholera  and  you  would  blame  the  treatment  for  the  loss  of  the  pig. 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  about  the  use  of  minerals.  Some  of  the  minerals 
that  are  recommended  are  very  expensive.  What  form  would  be  effective 
at  a  moderate  price?  What  do  you  think  about  the  use  of  minerals? 

Dr.  McDONALD:  Well,  I  guess  there  are  quite  a  number  of  hogs  that 
need  them.  I  do  not  believe,  however,  that  hogs  need  as  much  mineral  as 
we  have  been  led  to  believe  they  do  through  the  advertisements.  I  don't 
think  anyone  knows  exactly  what  amount  of  mineral  is  absorbed  by  these 
hogs.  There  is  no  doubt  but  what  some  of  the  minerals  are  beneficial  in 
some  cases.  As  to  the  price  of  them,  why,  that  is  just  a  matter  of  market 
prices. 

Q.  Which  are  the  most  essential?  That  is  what  I  am  getting  at, 
leaving  out  some  of  the  high  prices. 

Dr.  McDONALD:  Well,  I  think  that  charcoal,  lime  and  phosphorus 
are  about  the  essential  minerals. 

Q.  If  pigs  are  weaned  and  healthy  do  you  think  it  is  necessary  to 
change  their  feed  at  the  time  of  vaccination? 

Dr.  McDONALD:     From  what  they  have  been  getting? 

Q.     Yes,  sir. 

Dr.  McDONALD:  No,  I  do  not,  any  more  than  I  would  advise  that 
they  be  kept  off  of  corn  for  a  period  of  ten  days  or  two  weeks.  I  believe  you 
would  get  a  more  permanent  immunity  where  hogs  are  vaccinated  if  they 
are  gvien  a  chance  for  the  serum  and  virus  to  work  before  they  are  put  on 
full  feed.  When  the  government  was  demonstrating  the  use  of  serum  and 
virus  in  1913  and  1914  they  would  not  vaccinate  in  a  herd  unless  the  owner 
would  agree  to  keep  them  off  of  corn  for  at  least  two  weeks. 

Q.  There  is  Just  this  question  in  my  mind:  what  is  the  difference 
between  the  virus  that  the  farm  bureau  uses  and  the  virus  that  the  vet- 
erinarian uses?  The  veterinarian  claims  the  farm  bureau  virus  is  no  good. 

Dr.  McDONALD:  I  don't  know,  I  am  sure.  All  virus  is  made  the  same 
under  federal  supervision,  as  I  told  you  before.  If  there  is  any  difference, 
it  would  probably  be  in  the  keeping  of  the  virus  after  it  left  the  manu- 
facturer for  distribution. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  One  of  the  great  problems  that  humanity  has 
had  for  a  while  besides  production  of  food  has  been  distribution  of  food 
and  in  the  past  the  farmers  have  rather  depended  on  the  city  people  to  solve 
most  of  the  problems  regarding  the  distribution  of  food  and  other  problems, 
but  now  the  farmers  know  that  unless  they  have  a  hand  in  solving  those 
problems  that  the  producer  will  not  get  a  fair  share  of  the  returns. 

Now  there  are  a  good  many  problems  relating  to  marketing.  Marketing 
of  the  surplus  product  is  an  old  proposition.  The  first  step  in  marketing 
is  the  haul  of  the  product  of  the  farm  over  to  the  local  elevator,  the  stock- 
yards and  distributing  points,  and  I  think  it  is  fortunate  for  agriculture  that 
such  strong  organizations  as  the  state  association  and  farm  bureaus  are 
getting  near  to  the  solution  of  this  first  step  at  least,  and  later  the  other 
step  will  follow  in  the  great  problem  of  the  distribution  of  the  product,  the 
marketing.  Now  they  are  feeling  their  way  along,  but  they  are  doing  some 


98 

mighty  good  feeling  down  in  St.  Louis.    I  think  the  whole  thing  will  spread 
like  wildfire  after  a  while. 

Mr.  Fulkerson  will  speak  to  us  on  "Co-operative  Live  Stock  Marketing." 
Mr.  Fulkerson  is  connected  with  the  Producers  Live  Stock  Shipping  Asso- 
ciation of  East  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Fulkerson: 


CO-OPERATIVE   LIVE   STOCK  MARKETING. 
(Joe  Fulkerson.) 

MB.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  farmer  has  realized  for  a  good 
many  years  that  he  has  not  been  getting  what  he  ought  to  out  of  his  live- 
stock. He  knows  that  the  country  shipper  is  taking  too  big  a  toll  out  of 

the  stock  that  he  handles,  but  outside  of  a  few 
strenuous  kicks  nothing  has  been  done,  until 
the  idea  occurred  to  somebody  to  start  a  co- 
operative community  shipping  association. 
This  idea  has  been  so  successful  and  the 
farmers  are  so  well  pleased  with  it  that  it 
has  spread  all  over  the  country. 

The  country  shipper  has  been  fighting 
this  because  it  interferes  with  his  business. 
Not  long  ago  in  my  town  a  farmer  was  button- 
holed by  a  local  shipper  and  a  blue-sky  man. 
One  said,  "Now  look  here,  you  are  an  intelli- 
gent farmer,  what  do  you  want  to  spend  your 
money  paying  dues  into  the  farm  bureau  for? 
That  farm  bureau  isn't  doing  you  any  good. 
You  would  better  save  that  fifteen  dollars  a 
year  and  put  it  into  groceries  for  your  family." 
He  looked  at  the  stock  buyer  and  replied, 
"Now,  I'll  tell  you.  Do  you  remember  last 
week  when  I  brought  three  old  sows  into  town, 
took  them  around  to  you  and  you  made  me  an 
offer  on  them?  I  took  them  over  to  our  ship- 
ping association  and  shipped  through  them 
and  I  saved  five  dollars  apiece  on  them.  That 
is  fifteen  dollars.  That  would  pay  my  dues  for  a  year."  Then  he  turned  to 
the  blue-sky  man  and  said:  "Remember  talking  to  me  about  a  month  ago 
when  I  was  just  ready  to  bite  off  a  good  big  chunk  of  your  oil  stock?  A 
monthly  letter  of  the  farm  bureau  came  out  and  told  me  all  about  the  blue- 
sky  business,  and  that  monthly  letter  just  stepped  right  in  between  you  and 
my  farm.  Now,  I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  as  long  as  this  old  world  is 
such  a  dangerous  place  for  a  farmer  to  live  in  fifteen  dollars  a  year  is  a 
pretty  cheap  price  to  pay  for  a  guardian  to  look  after  my  business." 

The  farmers  have  realized  for  some  time  that  this  co-operative  shipping 
part  of  the  game  is  not  all  of  it.  They  thought,  "Now  then,  if  this  is  such 
a  success  and  we  are  getting  so  many  benefits  from  this  why  not  go  a  step 
further  and  get  over  into  the  other  side  of  the  game,  carrying  it  just  a  little 
bit  further  and  sell  our  stuff  on  the  market  ourselves  after  we  get  there  with 
it  instead  of  leaving  it  all  to  the  commission  men?"  The  commission  men 
said  the  co-operative  shipping  association  was  the  finest  thing  ever,  but 
when  you  start  talking  about  a  livestock  commisson  assocation  that  is  a 
different  proposition.  "You  fellows  let  that  alone.  You  keep  away  from 
that  and  let  us  handle  it." 

It  was  the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  farmers  to  get  into  the  commission 
business,  carry  this  thing  through  and  finish  the  job.  They  wanted  to  do 
something  about  it,  but  how  were  they  going  to  get  at  it?  You  can't  get 
a  man  from  Iowa,  another  man  from  Missouri  and  another  one  from  Illinois 
to  get  together  and  form  a  commission  association  nearly  so  easily  as  you 
can  go  into  a  community  and  get  a  bunch  of  farmers  together  and  in  one 
afternoon  organize  a  shipping  organization.  They  wondered  how  they  could 


Joe   Fulkerson. 


99 

get  at  it.  There  was  only  one  avenue  through  which  they  could  travel  and: 
that  was  through  the  American  Farm  Bureau  Federation,  with  its  arteries 
running  out  into  nearly  every  state  in  the  Union  and  branches  leading  into 
nearly  every  county  in  the  different  states.  So  the  matter  was  put  up  to  the 
American  Farm  Bureau  Federation.  The  executive  committee  of  that  asso- 
ciation saw  the  importance  of  it.  So  they  called  a  conference  and  decided 
to  appoint  a  committee  of  fifteen  to  go  into  this  matter  and  see  what  could 
be  done.  That  committee  of  fifteen  was  appointed.  On  that  committee  were 
members  of  state  farm  bureaus;  they  were  men  that  were  on  the  market, 
like  the  late  Mr.  McKerrow,  who  was  manager  of  the  St.  Paul  commission 
company  that  Mr.  Montgomery  will  speak  of  this  afternoon;  they  were  range 
men  out  of  the  west;  they  were  men  representing  little  farms  in  New 
England.  They  got  together  and  worked  for  ten  months  on  this  plan  of  the 
producer  marketing  his  own  livestock.  Last  November  this  committee  of 
fifteen  presented  its  report.  Representatives  from  all  the  state  farm  bureaus 
in  the  United  States  were  invited  to  that  conference,  also  representatives 
from  all  the  large  livestock  associations  in  the  United  States.  For  instance, 
the  Corn  Belt  Meat  Producers  Association,  the  Wyoming  Wool  Growers 
Association,  the  Texas  Cattle  Growers'  Association,  the  Colorado  Livestock 
Producers'  Association  and  so  on.  There  were  about  four  hundred  men  there 
representing  all  the  different  livestock  interests  from  all  over  the  United 
States.  They  were  from  West  Virginia  on  the  east  to  California  on  the  west, 
Minnesota  on  the  north  to  Texas  on  the  south. 

It  was  some  job  to  get  up  a  plan  that  would  fit  all  the  different  condi- 
tions, a  plan  that  would  fit  the  man  who  markets  perhaps  a  half  dozen  hogs 
or  three  or  four  steers  a  year  and  the  man  out  west  who  markets  a  whole 
trainload  of  cattle  at  once,  or  a  whole  trainload  of  sheep.  This  thing  was 
threshed  out  there  and  on  Armistice  Day,  the  llth  of  November,  the  report 
was  adopted  and  they  went  to  work  immediately. 

PLAN    OF    ORGANIZATION. 

Now  this  great  plan,  which  is  a  national  plan,  provides  for  this:  The 
organization  of  these  shipping  associations  throughout  the  country;  commis- 
sion houses  at  the  various  market  centers;  a  national  livestock  producers' 
association  with  a  board  of  directors  which  superintends  this  whole  proposi- 
tion. In  order  to  get  under  way,  the  first  national  board  was  appointed  by 
the  American  Farm  Bureau  Federation,  and  the  national  board  in  turn 
appoints  the  directors  of  the  different  terminal  associations.  In  speaking 
of  terminal  associations  we  mean  the  commission  houses  at  the  different 
markets  that  are  operated  by  the  farmers,  or  I  should  say  the  producers, 
because  there  are  a  great  many  ranchmen  in  the  west  that  are  big  producers 
but  are  not,  strictly  speaking,  farmers. 

This  national  board  of  directors  has  control  over  the  different  terminal 
associations,  but  they  do  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  local  manage- 
ment of  these  concerns.  They  select  these  directors  and  it  is  placed  in  their 
hands  and  it  is  up  to  them  to  make  a  success  of  each  individual  commission 
association.  They  report  to  the  national  board  and  keep  in  touch  with  them. 
The  object  of  the  national  board  is  to  give  this  thing  a  kind  of  general  super- 
vision, we  might  say,  keep  everything  going  harmoniously  between  all  these 
different  boards,  not  only  keep  them  all  in  harmony,  but  keep  them  all  in 
line  with  one  general  plan. 

Then  another  big  job  for  the  national  association,  and  it  is  a  great  big 
one  and'  is  going  to  bring  us  wonderful  results,  is  to  look  after  the  legislation, 
both  state  and  national,  for  the  benefit  of  the  producer.  One  problem  that 
confronts  them  now  that  must  be  looked  after  and  must  be  solved  is  freight 
rates  that  do  not  discriminate  against  the  producer. 

Another  thing  is  what  we  call  "feeding  en  route."  A  miller  can  buy 
wheat  and  ship  it  into  some  market,  some  manufacturing  center  like  Chicago 
or  Minneapolis,  manufacture  that  wheat  into  flour  and  ship  it  on  east  at  one 
rate,  one  through  rate.  Now,  if  they  can  do  that  there  is  no  reason  on  earth 
why  a  man  should  not  buy  cattle  in  Texas  or  Kansas  City  and  fatten  them 


100 

and  take  them  on  to  Chicago,  Indianapolis  or  Buffalo  at  one  rate.  That  is 
nothing  more  than  just  and'  right  and  it  means  a  whole  lot  to  the  producer. 

Another  great  big  problem  that  they  will  have  to  figure  out  is  the  dis- 
tribution of  livestock  to  market.  For  instance,  we  have  great  big  runs — 
stuff  will  go  off  fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  a  hundred.  There  is  no  reason  on 
earth  why  the  same  hog  is  worth  two  dollars  and  a  half  less  today  than  it 
was  yesterday.  That  is  out  of  all  reason.  It  ought  to  be  worth  just  as 
much.  A  hog  may  sell  for  two  dollars  and'  a  half  less  today  than  it  did 
yesterday  and  yet  the  bacon  and  the  pork  out  of  that  hog  won't  sell  over  the 
counter  for  one  cent's  difference. 

If  we  can  get  control  of  this  flow  of  stock  to  the  market  we  will  do  away 
with  these  things.  You  go  to  the  market  on  a  big  run  and  every  man  there 
will  tell  you  if  he  had  known  this  he  would  not  have  been  there.  That  is 
true,  they  would  not  have  been  there,  because  nobody  wants  to  bring  on 
himself  the  penalty  for  helping  bring  on  the  big  run.  If  the  people  knew 
how  to  distribute  this  stuff  to  the  market  they  would  be  very  glad  to  do  so. 

When  we  get  our  commission  houses  over  the  country — the  national 
supervision  board  having  a  view  of  this  whole  situation — and  there  is  a 
man  loading,  for  instance,  forty  or  fifty  miles  out,  some  others  are  loading 
out  in  the  country  a  hundred  miles  away,  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away, 
you  can  get  word  to  those  people  to  hold  back  or  divert  to  other  markets  in 
order  to  get  this  stock  in  more  uniformly. 

The  packers  are  with  us.  I  think  the  packers  would  very  much  prefer 
to  have  the  stuff  come  in  uniformly.  They  say  the  fluctuation,  dropping 
fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  a  day  is  their  only  relief,  because  when  the  stuff  comes 
in  a  great  run  so  that  they  can't  handle  it,  it  costs  them  more  to  take  care 
of  it.  They  have  to  have  a  big  body  of  men  there  to  handle  the  big  runs  and 
they  are  not  all  needed  on  light  runs.  If  they  can  get  a  uniform  flow  to  the 
market  they  will  be  a  great  deal  better  satisfied,  and  can  give  us  fairer 
prices  for  the  stuff,  whereas  they  can't  under  the  present  system. 

OPPOSITION    FROM    THE    EXCHANGES. 

The  exchanges  are  making  a  big  fight  on  our  plan  because  it  cuts  into 
the  business  of  the  commission  men.  Right  here  let  me  make  clear  just  what 
the  difference  is  between  the  exchange  and  stockyard  company.  I  find  there 
are  a  great  many  people  that  have  been  going  to  market  a  good  many  years 
do  not  quite  understand  where  the  exchange  leaves  off  and  the  stockyards 
begin.  The  stockyards  company  is  a  corporation  that  owns  the  stockyards, 
owns  the  exchange  building,  owns  all  the  hog  and  sheep  houses  and  cattle 
pens;  and  also  supply  and  control  the  price  of  feed.  The  exchange  is  a  kind 
of  lodge  or  club,  or  whatever  you  might  see  fit  to  call  it,  composed  of  the 
commission  men  and  traders  doing  business  at  the  yards.  They  do  not 
own  anything  in  regard  to  the  yards.  They  do  not  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  price  of  hay  or  the  price  of  corn,  or  anything  of  that  kind.  They  are 
simply  agents.  The  stockyards  company  and  the  exchange  are  entirely  sep- 
arate and  distinct.  The  stockyards  company  is  very  favorable  to  the  terminal 
associations,  as  we  call  them,  to  the  organization  of  these  farmers  or  pro- 
ducers' commission  associations.  They  treat  us  just  as  well  as  they  do  the 
"old  line"  commission  people,  but  the  stockyards  exchange,  composed  of 
these  commission  agents,  is  putting  up  a  strong  fight  against  us.  They  are 
putting  out  all  kinds  of  propaganda.  The  National  Livestock  Exchange, 
which  is  composed  of  these  various  exchanges  all  over  the  United  States,  is 
making  a  strong  fight,  because  they  do  not  want  the  farmers  to  get  a  foothold 
on  these  markets,  and  they  are  using  all  kinds  of  propaganda  to  prevent  it. 

One  of  their  favorite  arguments  is  that  it  is  too  expensive,  that  we  are 
going  to  have  a  national  board  drawing  down  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
a  year  apiece  and  that  we  are  going  to  have  a  board  of  directors  in  each 
of  these  terminal  markets  drawing  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  apiece.  Then 
we  are  going  to  have  high  priced  salesmen,  office  help  and  all  these  things 
to  handle  it,  and  it  will  amount  to  about  one  million  dollars.  Now,  just  a 
little  bit  about  that  million  dollar  proposition. 


101 

The  officers  receive  no  regular  salaries.  They  are  paid  per  day  for  the 
actual  days  they  work,  as  follows:  National  board — president,  $25.00; 
executive  committee,  $10.00;  directors'  meetings,  expenses  only.  Terminal 
boards- -president,  $15.00;  executive  committee  and  directors,  $10.00. 

The  boards  of  directors  meet  at  least  four  times  a  year,  and  as  often  as 
is  necessary.  When  the  national  board  of  directors  meet  they  have  a  repre- 
sentative from  every  one  of  the  terminal  associations  having  commission 
houses  in  operation.  At  present  there  is  just  one.  The  one  at  East  St.  Louis 
is  the  only  one  that  has  been  organized  so  far.  Chicago  is  next,  then 
Buffalo,  Indianapolis  and  Cleveland,  then  perhaps  Kansas  City. 

Now,  then,  each  terminal  association  sends  a  representative  to  the  national 
board,  and  when  the  amount  of  stock  handled  by  a  terminal  association  is 
sufficient  that  representative  becomes  a  member  of  the  national  board,  and 
the  different  boards  are  tied  up  closely  with  each  other.  The  national  board 
knows  what  the  terminal  association  is  doing,  and  the  terminal  association 
knows  what  the  national  board  wants  it  to  do.  The  national  board  on 
November  11,  as  soon  as  the  report  was  ratified,  appointed  a  board  of 
directors  for  the  East  St.  Louis  commission  house.  This  board  of  directors 
is  composed  of  three  men  from  Illinois,  three  from  Missouri  and  one  from 
Iowa. 

WHAT  THE  RECORDS   SHOW. 

We  started  on  the  second  day  of  January.  We  sat  there  all  day  and 
did  not  get  a  hoof.  We  were  a  little  bit  disappointed.  It  did  not  look  very 
good  for  us.  The  second  day  we  got  ten  carloads.  It  looked  a  little  better. 
By  the  end  of  the  week  we  stood  twelfth  place  among  fifty  companies  doing 
business  at  the  yards.  It  seemed  that  all  of  the  shipping  associations  over 
the  country  had  the  same  feeling.  They  did  not  want  to  be  there  the  first 
day;  they  wanted  us  to  get  started.  They  did  not  want  us  to  practice  on 
them;  they  wanted  us  to  practice  on  the  other  fellow,  and  they  all  thought, 
naturally,  we  would  get  a  good  many  on  the  first  day — get  things  straight- 
ened out,  and  on  the  second  day  we  would  be  ready  to  handle  theirs. 

We  handled  the  thing  as  satisfactorily  the  first  day  as  we  handled  it 
last  week.  We  got  our  manager  and  our  head  hog  salesman  from  the  Denver 
yards.  We  did  not  dare  to  take  them  all  out  of  the  yards  there,  because  we 
did  not  know  what  kind  of  propaganda  might  be  picked  up  and  worked 
against  us.  There  is  more  propaganda  gotten  up  against  this  thing  than 
anything  that  has  started,  unless  it  is  the  U.  S.  Grain  Growers.  They  have 
had  their  share  of  trouble  along  with  the  rest. 

We  stood  twelfth  among  fifty  companies  at  the  end  of  the  first  week;  at 
the  end  of  the  third  week  we  got  up  to  fourth  place.  We  felt  pretty  good, 
but  when  we  got  up  there  we  were  among  pretty  fast  company.  It  is  just 
like  in  a  horse  race.  It  isn't  much  trouble  to  pass  the  bunch,  but  when  you 
get  up  towards  the  front  you  have  got  to  go  some.  I  had  estimated  that 
in  three  months  we  would  be  in  second  place  and  in  six  months  we  would  be 
in  first  place.  Last  Friday,  at  the  end  of  our  seventh  week,  we  stood  first 
over  all  the  other  fifty. 

Now  this  success  is  not  due  to  the  supreme  intelligence  of  this  board  of 
directors  or  anything  of  that  kind.  You  men  could  have  done  just  as  much 
as  we  did  under  the  same  circumstances  and  conditions,  but  the  credit  is 
due  to  the  confidence  that  the  people  out  in  the  country  had  in  their  own 
people  running  their  own  business.  They  felt  that  they  are  the  men  to  take 
hold  of  this  commission  proposition  and  put  it  over  and  they  were  willing 
to  back  them  up,  and  the  success  of  this  thing  is  due  to  the  confidence  that 
the  people  had  in  them.  They  were  willing  to  stand  back  of  it.  And  the 
success  is  also  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  organized  on  a  solid  foundation  and 
along  the  right  lines,  or  it  never  could  have  been  so  successful  in  such  a 
short  time. 

As  I  say,  we  have  had  a  world  of  trouble  down  there,  but  we  have  gotten 
by  it.  We  have  had  a  lot  of  propaganda  to  fight.  I  could  go  on  and  talk 
about  that  for  quite  a  while,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think,  from  some  of  the 
meetings  that  1  have  been  to,  that  the  people  want  to  ask  questions,  and  I 


102 

find  that  quite  often  in  a  talk  more  is  brought  out  in  the  discussion  from 
the  questions  asked  than  the  talk  itself. 

I  want  to  say  that  the  success  of  all  of  our  farm  movements — the  farm 
bureau,  the  shipping  association,  the  commission  association,  and  everything 
of  that  kind — depends  upon  three  things:  Individual  effort,  organization, 
and  team  work. 

ADVANTAGES   OF   COOPERATION. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  Will  you  go  into  detail  now  and  tell  the  connection 
between  the  shipper  and  this  commission  house;  where  it  is  any  better  for 
the  shipper  than  any  other  commission  house? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  We  have  various  kinds  of  shipping  associations. 
We  have  the  local  shipping  associations  of  Indiana.  In  some  counties  they 
are  organized  into  county  associations,  a  county  association  consisting  of 
various  local  shipping  associations  in  that  county,  and  they  are  under  one 
county  manager.  Part  of  the  fees  for  shipping  go  to  the  shipping  association 
and  part  to  the  managers.  Now,  then,  by  the  shipping  association  patroniz- 
ing their  own  market,  patronizing  their  own  commission  company,  they  are 
benefited  in  this  way:  The  terminal  association  charges  just  the  same  rate 
that  the  old  line  commission  company  does;  then  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
after  all  of  the  expenses  are  deducted  for  operating  that  terminal  association 
house,  or  that  is  left  over  the  actual  expense  of  running  it,  is  prorated  back 
to  the  shipper;  whereas,  in  the  old  line  house  it  goes  down  into  the  pockets 
of  the  company.  Now  that  is  the  difference. 

Another  advantage  in  dealing  with  your  own  commission  house  is  that: 
The  old  line  commission  companies  charge  $16  a  car  commission  for  buying 
feeders — feeder  hogs  or  feeder  cattle,  or  stockers.  Your  commission  com- 
pany doesn't  charge  anything.  They  do  that  service  for  nothing.  They  go 
out  with  you  and  help  you  buy  this  stuff,  or  you  may  send  them  an  order 
and  they  will  fill  it  the  best  they  can,  just  the  same  as  an  old  line  commission 
company,  but  they  don't  make  any  charge  for  it.  It  makes  a  better  demand 
for  their  own  stuff  among  their  own  people.  When  a  man  comes  and  buys  a 
load  of  stock,  takes  it  home  and  fattens  it,  and  you  have  rendered  him  that 
service  free,  accommodated  him  in  that  way,  nine  times  out  of  ten  you  have 
made  a  customer  that  is  coming  back  with  a  finished  load.  We  are  simply 
overrun  down  there  with  orders  for  hogs.  We  have  more  orders  for  stockers 
and  feeders  than  stock  coming  in  to  fill  them  with.  We  bought  a  load  of 
hogs  for  Mr.  Johnson  at  Bloomington  the  other  day,  and  he  said  the  only 
trouble  was  that  we  did  not  send  him  enough  of  them.  I  had  a  letter  from 
him,  saying  one  of  his  neighbors  who  was  not  friendly  to  farmers'  organiza- 
tions had  placed  an  order  with  us. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  talk  went  out  that  we  would*not  be  able  to 
do  this  business  like  the  old  line  firms;  we  would  not  have  the  outlet  they 
have.  Week  before  last  one  of  the  biggest  and  the  best  old  line  companies 
in  the  yards,  a  company  that  sold  stuff  for  me  in  days  gone  by — they  are  all 
gentlemen,  try  to  be  as  nice  as  they  can  under  the  circumstances — had  ten 
carloads  of  yearlings  that  they  kept  two  days  and  could  not  sell.  They  sent 
a  part  of  them  to  Chicago  and  a  part  of  them  east,  because  they  could  not 
get  rid  of  them  there.  Now,  if  that  would  happen  to  the  Producers  Live 
Stock  Commission  Association,  it  would  be  all  over  the  country  and  in  all 
the  papers,  telling  what  a  woeful  failure  this  Producers  Live  Stock  Commis- 
sion Association  had  made,  because  they  had  ten  carloads  of  yearlings  that 
they  could  not  sell.  When  it  happens  to  any  of  these  old  line  fellows  you 
don't  hear  a  word  about  it. 

Then  they  say  we  make  mistakes — we  don't  get  as  much  for  the  stuff 
as  we  ought  to.  Sometimes  we  have  kicks  from  the  hog  department;  the 
hog  salesmen  there  can't  get  the  prices  that  the  old  line  fellows  get.  Now,  I 
have  had  this  happen;  and  in  my  own  town,  where  a  farmer  shipping 
throught  the  shipping  association  sent  in  a  load  of  hogs,  and  a  shipper 
that  bought  and  shipped  stuff  sent  a  load  of  hogs  not  a  bit  better  than 
the  farmer's  and  after  our  hogs  had  been  sold,  the  shipper  who  shipped 


103 

to  an  old  line  firm  got  ten  cents  more  for  his.  But  they  never  told  us  how 
they  took  that  off  somewhere  else.  It  came  off  of  somebody,  because  the 
packers  are  just  as  friendly  to  us  as  they  are  to  the  old  line  fellows;  if 
anything,  a  little  more  so,  because  they  are  trying  to  encourage  us.  The 
packers  are  trying  to  wipe  out  as  much  of  this  profit  that  stands  in  between 
the  producer  and  consumer  as  possible.  In  other  words,  the  packer  is 
human.  He  wants  to  be  the  only  fellow  in  between  there.  He  can  make 
more,  he  can  pay  us  more  and  get  it  to  the  consumer  cheaper  by  cutting  out 
a  lot  of  these  unnecessary  middlemen.  This  thing  would  not  have  been 
brought  on,  probably,  or  at  least  it  would  not  have  come  on  so  soon  if  it 
had  not  been  the  fault  of  commission  men.  In  Chicago  there  are  101  com- 
mission companies,  87  of  them  regularly  established  commission  companies, 
and  the  others  are  regular  commission  men,  doing  business  through  these 
other  offices.  In  St.  Louis  we  have  altogether  about  50  companies  doing  the 
business  that  12  or  15  companies  could  handle  and  handle  properly.  Now, 
then,  these  companies  have  all  got  to  be  taken  care  of.  We  farmers  have 
been  feeding  them.  It  is  about  time  for  us  to  take  hold  of  that  matter  and 
do  a  little  of  this  selling  ourselves  and  cut  out  a  lot  of  the  fellows  that  are 
not  needed.  Let  them  go  out  and  earn  a  living  and  do  something  that  will 
do  somebody  some  good,  instead  of  us  feeding  them  all  the  time.  Did  I 
answer  your  question? 
Q.  Yes,  sir. 

AN    EXAMPLE   OF    PROPAGANDA. 

Mr.  MILLER:  There  was  quite  an  article  that  appeared  in  the  Globe- 
Democrat  some  weeks  ago  in  regard  to  some  shipper  in  Missouri  sending 
hogs  to  a  commission  firm,  and  the  following  Monday  or  so  they  were  put 
on  the  market  and  brought  two  dollars  more.  Now,  we  fellows  who  are 
living  out  in  the  State  know  that  that  is  propaganda,  but  that  is  mighty 
good  stuff  for  these  fellows  to  ring  in  occasionally.  I  would  like  to  give 
you  an  opportunity  to  defend  against  something  like  that.  Now  we  know 
there  is  something  back  of  it;  we  know  that. 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  I  would  be  very  glad  to  explain  this,  and  it  will 
give  you  an  idea  of  about  how  solid  this  propaganda  is — how  much  is  behind 
this  propaganda  that  is  put  out.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  two  co-operative 
commission  associations  in  St.  Louis  now  doing  business.  The  other 
co-operative  commission  company  there  is  organized  on  an  entirely  different 
plan  from  what  ours  is.  There  are  things  in  their  system  of  organizing  that 
don't  appeal  to  us  in  the  least;  that  we  don't  agree  with.  There  are  probably 
things  in  ours  that  do  not  appeal  to  them  and  they  do  not  agree  with.  But 
we  are  not  fighting  each  other,  for  the  reason  that  the  live  stock  commission 
companies  down  there  would  be  tickled  to  death  to  get  us  fellows  to  fighting 
each  other.  It  would  be  just  nuts  for  them.  They  would  not  want  anything 
better.  We  are  just  a  little  bit  too  smart  to  get  into  anything  of  that  kind. 
After  we  get  them  whipped  then  we  might,  just  for  exercise,  brush  each 
other  up;  but  right  now  we  are  not  doing  that  kind  of  business.  We  are  not 
knocking  each  other.  As  I  say,  there  are  these  two  different  associations 
there,  both  of  them  co-operative.  This  propaganda  that  was  gotten  out  was 
against  this  other  company  and  not  against  us.  For  the  reason  that  when 
that  was  pulled  off  we  were  just  starting,  and  the  people  down  there  were 
centering  their  fire  at  this  other  company,  because  they  were  making  them 
a  lot  of  trouble.  They  started  in  about  the  middle  of  November  and  they 
had  gotten  pretty  well  to  the  top.  They  did  not  pay  any  attention  to  us, 
because  we  did  not  make  a  big  start.  As  I  say,  the  first  day  we  did  not  do 
anything.  When  this  propaganda  was  pulled  off  we  were  not  considered 
worth  noticing,  therefore  it  was  shot  into  this  other  commission  company. 
We  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it.  It  isn't  really  our  fight,  but  it  was 
propaganda  pure  and  simple,  and  it  was  pulled  in  just  this  way:  In  the 
first  place,  if  those  hogs  were  sold  on  Friday  and  then  gotten  back  and  sold 
on  Monday,  wouldn't  it  take  some  salesman  to  sort  up  all  of  that  sausage 
and  get  it  back  into  the  original  hogs  and  sell  it  over  again?  That  shows 


on  the  face  of  it  that  it  was  propaganda  pure  and  simple.  They  could  not 
have  pulled  a  thing  like  that  with  marketable  hogs — or,  rather,  commercial 
hogs — and  it  had  to  be  pulled  in  this  way:  Some  shipper  out  in  the  country, 
evidently — I  don't  know  whether  this  is  true,  but  I  know  that  it  could  not 
have  been  pulled  any  other  way — that  stood  in  with  some  old  line  commission 
company  shipped  this  stuff  to  this  other  company  and  they  sold  it  for  him 
on  Friday  to  a  speculator.  Then  they  told  him  what  they  got  for  the  stuff, 
and  the  shipper  thought  the  matter  over  and  told  them  that  he  wasn't 
satisfied  with  the  sale  and  he  wanted  the  hogs  back.  They  never  thought  of 
the  trick.  They  wanted  to  accommodate  the  man  and  they  went  to  the 
speculator — not  a  packer — they  went  to  the  speculator  that  bought  this  stuff 
and  they  told  him  they  would  like  to  get  this  stuff  back;  they  wanted  to 
know  whether  this  shipper  could  get  it  back.  Of  course,  the  speculator  was 
in  on  the  deal,  and  he  says:  "Why,  yes.  If  he  wants  the  stuff,  let  him 
take  it  back."  They  turned  this  over  to  the  old  line  company.  Then  the 
old  line  company  turned  around  on  Monday  and  sold  it  for  $211.80  more,  I 
think,  than  the  stuff  was  sold  for  on  Friday.  The  question  is,  who  put  up 
the  $211.80;  whether  it  was  a  bunch  of  those  fellows  that  got  it  up  together 
and  made  up  the  price,  or  whether  there  never  was  a  second  sale  made.  It 
might  have  been  just  propaganda,  pure  and  simple,  but  it  made  a  very 
interesting  article  in  the  newspapers,  both  in  St.  Louis  and  Chicago.  I  think 
one  of  the  market  papers  in  Chicago  put  a  frame  around  it.  That  is  the 
whole  story  of  that  little  frame-up. 

Now,  to  go  a  little  further.  A  week  or  two  after  that  I  happened  to  be 
in  the  office  one  day  and  a  young  fellow  came  in  with  a  telegram.  I  noticed 
he  was  a  little  nervous.  He  said  he  wanted  to  know  where  the  manager 
was.  The  bookkeeper  told  him  the  manager  was  out.  He  said  he  so'd  some 
sheep  that  morning  and  he  had  a  telegram  from  his  father  stating  that  he 
wanted  to  get  the  sheep  back;  he  wasn't  satisfied  with  the  sale.  Well,  now, 
as  near  as  I  could  get  at  it,  these  sheep  were  sold  by  our  company.  They 
sold  the  lambs  at  thirteen  and  a  half  and  sold  the  ewes  at  six  and  a  half. 
Then  the  boy  telephones  to  his  father  out  in  the  country,  and  the  father 
telegraphed  back  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  sale  and  to  recall  the 
sheep.  After  the  manager  came  back  he  asked  him  what  about  it?  He  said: 
"Now,  here,  just  tell  the  people  that  the  Producers  Live  Stock  Commission 
Association  never  sells  stuff  but  once.  When  it  is  sold  it  is  sold,  and  that  is 
the  end  of  it.  They  had  a  chance  to  look  us  up.  We  have  been  doing  busi- 
ness several  weeks.  They  could  find  out  whether  we  have  been  responsible, 
whether  we  are  getting  satisfactory  prices.  If  they  are  not  satisfied  we  are 
very  sorry  about  it,  but  not  to  come  back  any  more.  If  they  find  they  were 
mistaken  we  would  be  very  glad  to  handle  their  stuff  in  the  future."  The 
fellow  came  back  in  half  an  hour  and  wanted  to  get  a  job  with  us,  wanted  a 
job  as  yard  boy.  Since  then  we  have  had  a  load  of  hogs  from  the  same  man. 

Here  is  the  provision  that  is  made  there:  The  shipping  associations 
over  the  country  take  out  a  membership  in  the  terminal  association.  This 
membership  is  based  on  a  dollar  a  car  for  the  first  fifty  cars  shipped  during 
the  last  year,  and  fifty  cents  a  car  for  the  cars  over  that.  They  pay  that 
into  the  terminal  association  as  membership,  and  that  gives  the  terminal 
association  a  capital  stock  to  work  on.  Now,  then,  in  order  to  take  care  of 
the  men  out  in  the  west,  where  they  do  not  have  shipping  associations,  where 
they  send  great  trainloads  in — there  are  some  men  there  that  will  ship  in  as 
much  live  stock  in  a  year  as  some  of  our  small  county  shipping  associations 
— in  order  to  take  care  of  them  we  had  to  make  a  universal  rule  that  any 
farmer  or  producer  of  live  stock  might  take  out  an  individual  membership 
of  ten  dollars  and  ship  himself. 

DIVISION    OF   PROFITS. 

Q.  You  spoke  of  the  profit  in  the  year.  How  do  you  divide  that?  On 
the  basis  of  a  number  of  animals,  or  how  do  you  figure  that? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  It  is  figured  on  the  amount  of  commission  paid  in. 
For  instance,  we  will  say,  just  to  make  it  easy;  suppose  at  the  end  of  the 


105 

year  we  have  50  percent  to  refund.  If  you  shipped  in  a  load  of  stuff  and 
paid  $18  commission  on  your  car,  you  would  get  $9  back.  It  is  figured  on 
the  basis  of  the  amount  of  money  paid  in.  A  percentage  of  the  amount  of 
commission  that  you  paid  in  would  be  refunded  back. 

Q.  A  shipper  shipping  in  stuff  would  automatically  become  a  member, 
wouldn't  he? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  If  his  commission  would  be  $15  at  the  end  of  the 
year  he  would  be  a  member  and  get  $5  back. 

Q.  Supposing  a  man  isn't  a  member  of  the  shippers'  association.  Does 
he  have  to  become  a  member  before  he  can  ship  to  you? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  He  can  ship  us  a  load  of  stock  and  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  if  he  doesn't  want  to  be  a  member,  he  gets  one-half  of  his  refund 
back.  Anybody  can  ship  to  us.  If  he  is  not  a  member  of  the  association,  or 
not  an  individual  member,  he  gets  half  of  his  refund  back.  He  also  gets  the 
benefit  of  buying  the  stockers  and  feeders  without  the  extra  charge. 

Q.  Are  you  getting  some  shipments  from  individuals  that  are  not 
members  of  the  association? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:     Oh,  yes;  we  are  getting  a  lot  of  them. 

Q.    If  there  are  not  any  profits  would  the  individual  be  assessed? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  No,  you  can't  assess  the  members.  They  would 
just  go  out  of  business  automatically. 

Q.    Who  would  make  up  the  deficit,  if  any,  in  any  year? 

Mr.  FULKERSON:  If  the  thing  wouldn't  pay  it  would  stop.  That  is 
one  thing  about  organizing  these  terminal  associations.  The  national  board 
goes  out  and  gets  enough  membership  and  ascertains  if  there  is  going  to  be 
enough  patronage  to  support  them.  There  isn't  going  to  be  any  deficit. 
When  a  firm  starts  out  and  in  seven  weeks  gets  at  the  top  of  the  list  there 
won't  be  any  deficit,  because  the  people  are  behind  it. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  We  have  one  more  speaker.  When  we  wanted 
to  know  more  about  co-operative  marketing  we  went  up  to  St.  Paul  where 
there  was  an  older  organization.  We  went  there  and  asked  for  Mr.  J.  S. 
Montgomery  of  the  Central  Co-operative  Commission  Association  to  tell  us 
more  about  co-operation.  Mr.  Montgomery: 

FARMERS  IN  THE  COMMISSION  BUSINESS. 

(J.  8.  Montgomery.) 

MB.  CHAIRMAN,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  farmer  has  had  two  big 
problems,  big  fundamental  problems  to  consider.  One,  the  problem  of  pro- 
duction and  the  other  the  problem  of  disposing  of  his  products  after  he  had 
them  produced. 

The  problem  of  production  has  received  a  great  deal  of  thought,  study 
and  attention.  We  have  heard  it  talked  of,  we  have  seen  it  written  in  all  of 
our  farm  journals  and  agricultural  press  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other.  Our  experiment  stations  have  spent  years  and  years  in  studying  more 
efficient  methods  of  production  of  all  farm  products,  but  up  until  recent  years 
we  have  given  very  little,  if  any,  thought  to  the  problem  of  economical 
marketing.  We  have  produced  these  crops  and  then  we  have  sold  them  on 
a  market  that  was  owned,  operated  and  controlled  by  the  other  fellow,  and 
largely  for  the  other  fellow's  benefit. 

A  former  speaker  told  you  some  of  the  reasons  why  wheat  recently  has 
gone  up  thirty  or  forty  cents  a  bushel.  I  will  tell  you  a  reason  that  I  think 
is  a  lot  more  important,  and'  that  is  the  fact  that  most  of  the  wheat  in  the 
country  has  gotten  out  of  the  hands  of  the  producer  and  into  the  hands  of 
the  speculator. 

We  have  seen  the  same  thing  happen  every  year,  year  in  and  year  out. 
Everyone  knew  it  and  expected  it  was  coming  as  soon  as  the  big  volume  of 
the  crop  got  out  of  the  producers'  hands. 

The  thing  we  have  got  to  do  is  to  study  the  business  end  of  our  business, 
to  get  organized  in  such  a  way  that  the  man  who  produces  this  farm  product 
gets  a  little  larger  percentage  of  the  ultimate  returns  from  it.  That  is  the 


106 

important  thing  right  now.  That  is  the  best  answer  I  know  of  to  the  ques- 
tion of  how  to  remedy  farm  credit,  how  to  remedy  the  living  conditions  on 
our  farms,  how  to  improve  our  school  systems  and  how  to  get  men  back  on 
these  farms,  many  of  which  are  going  to  lie  idle  this  year  I  am  afraid.  I 
don't  know  whether  that  is  going  to  be  the  case  in  your  state  or  not,  but  I 
know  that  in  southern  Minnesota  and  northern  Iowa  it  is  going  to  be  a 
serious  condition.  I  predict  that  a  lot  of  the  best  land  in  that  territory  is 
going  to  be  idle  this  year  because  the  men  on  that  land  who  have  operated 
it  for  the  past  two  years  have  operated  at  such  a  loss  that  they  are 
no  longer  able  to  continue.  I  don't  know  how  we  are  going  to  overcome  that 
condition,  but  I  d'on't  fear  over-production  very  much  for  the  coming  year 
when  I  know  how  much  land  is  going  to  be  idle  in  some  of  the  good  pro- 
ductive country  a  little  farther  north,  and  I  imagine  it  is  going  to  be  just 
about  the  same  condition  in  parts  of  Illinois. 

I  don't  know  if  I  can  give  any  solution  for  this  condition  that  is  con- 
fronting us  with  reference  to  how  to  market  our  products,  but  I  can  tell  you 
in  a  little  while  what  we  have  done  in  Minnesota  and  the  territory  tributary 
to  the  South  St.  Paul  market  with  reference  to  livestock  marketing  which 
we  think  has  helped  us  a  great  deal  in  the  past  few  months  and  promises 
to  help  us  a  great  deal  more.  I  believe  that  organization  by  the  farmers  into 
business  bodies  which  will  make  it  possible  for  you  to  handle  your  products 
co-operatively  is  going  to  be  the  solution  that  we  are  looking  for. 

CO-OPERATIVE   SHIPPING   ASSOCIATIONS. 

With  reference  to  co-operative  livestock  marketing,  the  history  of  that 
movement  in  our  state  dates  back  to  1908.  In  that  year,  at  Litchfield,  Minn., 
the  first  co-operative  shipping  association  that  I  know  of,  or  that  is  on  record, 
was  established.  That  is  only  a  comparatively  short  time  ago.  At  that 
time  we  had  a  condition  in  that  territory,  in  that  particular  county  in  Minne- 
sota, right  around  in  the  vicinity  of  Litchfield,  where  I  am  told  there  were 
something  like  thirteen  local  livestock  buyers  whom  the  producers  of  that 
county  were  maintaining  as  a  means  of  getting  their  livestock  from  the  farm 
to  the  terminal  market.  And  the  condition  was  very  much  the  same  in  any 
Icoality  that  you  wanted  to  go  to  in  Minnesota.  It  was  not  quite  so  much 
true  in  the  Corn  Belt,  I  know,  where  farmers  were  producing  their  livestock 
in  full  carload  lots  on  their  own  farm,  but  that  is  a  condition  that  affects 
only  a  comparatively  small  area  of  this  country.  Wherever  there  was  a 
smaller  amount  of  livestock  on  the  farms  the  livestock  buyer  was  making  it 
a  business  to  buy  this  stuff  and  speculate  on  it,  and  the  price  he  paid  for  it 
depended  altogether  upon  the  intelligence  of  the  farmer  he  was  dealing  with. 

The  farmers  in  that  locality  got  together  and  talked  over  the  proposition 
and  they  said,  "One  man  can  do  this  work  just  as  well  as  thirteen,  and  we 
will  get  the  difference  that  the  other  twelve  are  getting."  So  they  organized 
the  first  co-operative  shipping  association  on  record  in  this  country.  The 
thing  was  a  success,  and  it  has  been  a  success  since  that  time.  Out  of  that 
town  that  shipping  association  has  shipped  nearly  three  thousand  cars  of 
livestock  co-operatively,  out  of  one  shipping  point  since  1908. 

The  idea  has  spread.  It  was  taken  up  by  our  universities,  our  extension 
force,  our  farmers  institute  force,  other  educational  bodies,  our  farm  press, 
and  the  idea  has  spread.  It  spread  until  today  we  have  probably  six  or  seven 
hundred  active  successful  co-operative  shipping  associations  in  the  state  of 
Minnesota.  It  spread  until  last  year  seventy-five  per  cent  of  all  Minnesota 
livestock  that  went  on  to  the  terminal  market  was  sent  there  by  co-operative 
shipping  associations.  So  that  you  see  we  have  the  co-operative  idea  pretty 
well  instilled  into  the  people  of  that  farming  community  in  your  neighboring 
state  to  the  north. 

THE    TERMINAL    MARKET    SITUATION. 

But  that  did  not  solve  all  of  our  marketing  problems.  We  still  had  at 
the  terminal  market  a  condition  which  was  exacting  a  pretty  big  toll  for  the 
service  that  the  producer  got  there,  and  about  seven  or  eight  years  ago  we 


107 

got  the  shipping  associations  of  Minnesota  together  and  formed  a  sort  of  a 
federation  to  take  up  some  of  the  problems  that  the  shipper  was  confronted 
with  at  the  terminal  market.  We  figured  that  if  we  could  pass  a  few  laws 
that  would  correct  some  of  the  evils  that  the  shipper  met  with  at  the  term- 
inal market  that  maybe  that  would  do  the  job.  We  did  get  a  few  laws  enacted 
for  the  benefit  of  the  shipper,  and  it  did  improve  his  conditions  on  that 
market  until  the  South  St.  Paul  market  has  been  recognized1,  for  the  last 
five  or  six  or  seven  years,  as  being  the  best  regulated  livestock  market  in  the 
United  States. 

When  the  Packers'  Control  Act  was  passed  by  Congress  last  year  we  had 
a  very  peculiar  condition  arising.  At  every  market  in  the  country  excepting 
South  St.  Paul  the  livestock  exchanges  were  fighting  the  Packers'  Control 
Act.  The  South  St.  Paul  market  was  fighting  for  it.  Why?  Because  up 
there  we  had  state  regulation  that  was  more  rigid  than  anything  provided 
for  in  the  Packers'  Control  Act,  and  all  of  that  legislation  had  been  brought 
about  by  a  little  unified  action  on  the  part  of  our  shippers  in  demanding 
their  rights.  But  we  found  that  with  all  the  laws  you  would  still  have 
questions  and'  propositions  that  you  could  not  get  away  from,  that  you  were 
paying  a  big  toll  and  getting  a  little  service  at  that  market,  and  our  shippers 
made  up  their  minds  that  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to  work  very  many 
miracles  for  the  farmer  with  legislation.  They  decided  that  if  they  were 
going  to  improve  their  conditions  they  would  have  to  get  together  and  do 
some  of  the  work  themselves. 

With  that  in  view  last  April  a  meeting  was  called  of  all  our  co-operative 
shipping  associations  of  the  state  of  Minnesota.  Something  like  150  of  them 
responded  with  delegates.  At  that  meeting  the  ground  work  was  laid  for 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Central  Co-operative  Commission  Association.  A 
board  of  directors  composed  of  farmers  was  elected.  Articles  of  incorpora- 
tion were  adopted  and  that  board  of  directors  were  given  authority  to 
establish  on  the  South  St.  Paul  market  a  co-operative  selling  agency. 

Why  did  they  want  it?  We  had  on  that  market  thirty-five  commission 
firms  and  twice  that  many  firms  of  speculators  and  dealers,  with  a  total  of 
something  like  one  thousand  employees  to  handle  the  business  of  selling  the 
farmers'  livestock.  Think  of  what  a  great  big,  cumbersome,  unnecessary, 
expensive  and  extravagant  organization  that  was  to  handle  that  business. 
And  the  worst  of  it  was  that  our  producers  found  that  in  many  cases  they 
were  not  getting  square  treatment  when  they  got  there.  I  am  not  condemn- 
ing the  commission  men.  There  are  some  of  the  best  men  engagd  in  the 
business,  some  of  the  best  friends  I  have  that  are  in  there.  The  fact  re- 
mained that  conditions  grew  up  around  those  terminal  markets  that  were 
built  up  for  the  benefit  of  everybody  except  the  producer  in  every  step  of  the 
game,  I  don't  care  whether  he  was  buying  or  whether  he  was  selling,  he  was 
paying  the  bill,  he  was  the  goat,  and  there  was  nothing  there  for  his  benefit. 

Six  weeks  after  that  organization  meeting  in  April  we  had  covered  the 
state  of  Minnesota.  Our  board  of  directors  had  elected  Mr.  W.  A.  McKerrow, 
who  unfortunately  for  us  died  a  short  while  ago,  as  general  manager.  While 
he  was  building  up  the  organization  to  handle  the  business  at  the  yards 
I  took  charge  of  a  group  of  men  and  we  covered  the  state  of  Minnesota,  and 
in  six  weeks'  time  we  had  the  promise  of  enough  business  to  make  us  twice 
as  large  as  any  other  commission  firm  in  the  South  St.  Paul  market.  With 
the  promise  of  that  business  we  felt  we  were  justified'  in  going  into  the 
market  and  employing  the  best  salesmen  that  could  be  secured,  and  that  was 
our  next  step. 

OBGANIZAT1ON   AND  BESUI/TS. 

Now  to  give  you  a  little  idea  of  the  success  of  this  thing  I  would  like 
to  go  into  it  in  a  little  more  detail.  I  want  to  give  you  in  just  a  brief  word 
or  two  the  plan  of  organization.  It  is  a  little,  simple  thing,  organized  on  a 
co-operative  basis,  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  capital  stock  which  is  sold 
not  to  the  individual  but  to  the  local  shipping  association.  The  individual 
cannot  buy  the  stock.  The  control  therefore  is  always  in  the  hand's  of  the 


108 

producer  represented  by  his  local  association  at  home,  and  there  is  where 
the  voting  power  is.  It  isn't  open  so  the  individual  can  step  in  so  the  few 
fellows  around  the  terminal  market  could  buy  the  controlling  interest  in  the 
stock  so  that  it  could  be  co-operative  only  in  name.  It  is  organized  in  such 
a  way  that  after  paying  the  expense  of  running  the  business  and  paying 
interest  on  the  money  invested  that  any  and  all  profits  are  pro-rated  back 
on  a  patronage  basis  at  the  end  of  the  year.  That,  in  just  a  few  words,  is 
the  plan  on  which  the  association  is  organized. 

Now,  I  want  to  tell  you  a  little  something  of  what  we  have  done,  just 
in  a  few  words.  We  were  open  for  business  on  the  8th  day  of  last  August, 
and  the  first  week  that  we  were  in  the  yards  we  became  the  largest  commis- 
sion firm  of  the  South  St.  Paul  yards.  There  never  has  been  a  day  since 
the  day  we  opened  for  business  that  we  have  not  had  more  business  than 
any  other  firm  in  the  yards.  We  handled  442  cars  of  livestock  in  August, 
700  cars  in  September,  1,100  cars  in  October,  1,292  cars  in  November;  in 
December  we  had  a  strike  that  practically  closed  our  yards  for  a  week,  we 
had  two  holidays  and  handled  888  cars.  In  January  we  came  back  up  to 
1,260  cars,  which  was  24.8  per  cent  of  all  the  business  of  those  yards,  with 
33  other  firms  competing  for  the  business.  That  is  what  the  co-operative 
organization  there  has  done. 

We  have  had  all  kinds  of  propaganda  sent  out  against  us.  The  people 
that  have  been  engaged  in  the  business  there  were  ready  to  fight.  That  was 
just  human  nature.  We  were  stepping  on  their  toes  a  little  bit.  We  were 
taking  hold  of  a  business  which  they  seemed  to  feel  they  were  preordained 
to  handle.  They  seemed  to  think  they  had  an  absolute  right,  that  nobody 
had  any  right  to  come  in  there  and  say  anything  about  it.  I  want  to  tell  you 
some  of  the  things  they  attempted  to  do  when  we  went  in  there.  A  few  days 
before  we  opened  for  business  the  livestock  exchange  members  got  together 
and  said  to  the  speculators  and  dealers  on  the  market,  "If  you  buy  a  hoof 
from  these  'outlaws'  (as  they  called  us)  you  cannot  again  buy  from  any 
member  of  the  exchange."  Now  what  was  the  purpose  of  an  order  of  that 
kind?  They  knew  that  we  were  going  to  have  a  lot  of  business  to  start  on 
and  they  figured  that  they  could  keep  the  speculator  from  buying  from  us. 
They  thought  we  would  be  eliminated,  be  out  of  business  in  a  week.  They 
gave  us  "just  a  week  to  live"  when  we  started'  in  there.  Fortunately  for  us, 
the  farmers  in  the  Corn  Belt  had  gotten  themselves  pretty  well  organized 
into  farm  bureaus  and  things  of  that  sort,  which  gave  us  an  organized 
medium  through  which  we  could  work.  We  sent  word  through  all  the  county 
agents  to  the  farm  bureaus  in  the  cattle  feeding  country,  and  to  all  the 
feeders  we  could  get  in  touch  with.  We  said,  "On  the  8th  day  of  August  we 
are  going  to  open  for  business.  We  expect  to  have  a  lot  of  stockers  and 
feeder  cattle.  We  expect  to  sell  them  directly  to  the  man  that  wants  to  buy 
them  without  adding  any  speculator  profit  to  them."  The  first  day  we  opened 
for  business  we  had  a  buyer  there  for  all  the  stockers  we  wanted  to  sell.  He 
could  not  get  a  full  load 'from  us,  so  he  went  to  a  commission  man's  office 
and  he  said,  "I  want  to  buy  a  few  cattle."  The  commission  man  said,  "You 
bought  from  the  outlaws  this  morning,  didn't  you?"  He  said,  "Yes,  I 
bought  some  from  them."  "You  can't  buy  any  cattle  in  this  end  of  the  yard." 
I  don't  want  to  tell  you  what  that  buyer  told  him,  but  he  told  him  where  he 
could  go.  And  he  told  him  he  thought  he  could  get  all  the  cattle  he  wanted 
from  those  yards  and  he  didn't  have  to  deal  with  any  member  of  the  livestock 
exchange. 

That  was  the  beginning,  and  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  there  never  has 
been  any  time  when  we  have  suffered  for  buyers.  Within  the  last  three 
weeks  I  have  had  several  of  the  largest  speculators  in  the  South  St.  Paul 
yards  come  to  me  and  get  right  down  on  their  knees  in  my  office,  or  pretty 
nearly  so,  and  say,  "Won't  you  let  us  come  down  and  buy  some  cattle?"  I 
said,  "Yes,  sir,  we  are  conducting  an  open  market  down  there  and  any  time 
you  want  to  come  down  and  pay  more  money  for  these  cattle  than  they  are 
worth  to  the  outside  buyer  you  can  buy  them."  They  said,  "No,  we  don't 
want  to  come  that  way.  We  want  the  assurance  that  when  we  come  down 
there  you  will  let  us  have  some  cattle  whether  there  is  some  outside  man 


100 

wants  to  bny  them  or  not."  I  said  to  those  men,  "No,  your  viewpoint  and 
mine  are  different.  My  idea  is  that  the  outside  buyer  or  producer  who  wants 
the  cattle  to  feed  is  the  man  who  has  got  the  first  right  to  bid  on  them.  If 
you  are  willing  to  compete  with  them  you  are  welcome." 

That  is  the  principle  we  are  doing  business  on,  and  the  speculators 
haven't  come  down  because  we  haven't  needed  them.  It  is  the  Illinois 
feeders,  the  Iowa  feeders  and  the  southern  Minnesota  feeders  who  have  come 
there  and  been  our  patrons. 

They  have  sent  out  stories  broadcast  that  we  could'  not  get  the  price, 
we  were  giving  the  stuff  away.  There  is  no  way  to  disprove  that  statement 
except  to  come  there  and  look  at  the  books  and  compare  them  with  the 
markets,  and  anybody,  except  our  competitors,  are  welcome  to  do  so.  They 
are  open  at  all  times  to  any  producer  who  wants  to  come  and  look  at  them. 
But  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  I  don't  believe  that  we  could  hold  twenty-five 
or  thirty  per  cent  of  the  business  of  that  yard  day  in  and'  day  out,  week  in 
and  week  out,  if  we  were  not  getting  full  market  value  for  the  livestock. 
That  is  the  best  evidence  I  can  give  you  people  that  it  is  possible  for  a 
co-operative  organization  to  go  into  the  market  and  sell  the  stuff  just  as  high 
as  anybody  can  sell  it  if  you  will  just  organize  properly  and  be  sure  that 
you  are  going  to  have  a  fair  supply  of  livestock  coming  in  all  the  time  so 
that  you  can  afford  to  hire  the  best  sales  talent  in  the  yards. 

Now  what  are  the  possibilities  with  reference  to  sales  by  this  co-operative 
handling?  I  don't  know  how  much  we  have  saved  on  speculator  cattle; 
I  do  know  that  when  we  started  hiring  men  last  year  one  of  the  speculators 
in  the  yards  came  to  us  and  wanted  a  job  as  cattle  salesman,  and  he  took 
the  president  of  our  organization  into  his  office,  opened  up  his  books  for  a 
year's  business  and  showed  him  what  a  good  cattle  man  he  was,  and  the 
books  that  he  presented  showed  that  his  profits  for  one  year  as  a  cattle 
speculator  were  many  thousand  dollars.  Now,  I  don't  know  whether  there 
are  many  speculators  making  that  much  money,  but  I  know  some  of  them 
must  be  making  pretty  good  money  or  they  would  not  be  living  and  dTiving 
big  cars,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  as  they  are.  I  know  that  when  we  spread 
the  stocker  and  feeder  business  in  our  yards  over  forty  to  sixty  firms  that 
they  have  got  to  make  a  pretty  good  profit  on  every  hoof  that  they  handle 
to  even  exist,  to  say  nothing  about  laying  aside  any  money. 

We  have  done  as  much  business  in  the  stocker  and  feeder  line,  I  think 
I  am  safe  in  saying,  as  any  ten  speculator  firms  in  the  yards  since  we  started. 
Now,  that  is  the  only  estimate  I  can  give  you  as  to  what  we  have  saved  along 
that  line.  But  I  do  know  this,  that  from  the  time  we  started  we  operated 
for  an  average  of  twenty-five  per  cent  less  commissions  than  the  old  line 
firms  were  operating  on.  Our  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission  was 
given  authority  to  reduce  commissions.  They  issued  an  order.  That  order 
was  enjoined  in  court.  It  has  been  in  court  for  pretty  nearly  a  year  now. 
I  don't  know  how  much  longer  it  will  stay  there.  We  could  not  get  any 
results  in  that  way.  We  cut  out  commissions  twenty-five  per  cent  below 
what  the  old  line  firms  were  charging. 

THE  FINANCIAL  SIDE. 

Working  on  that  basis,  on  an  investment  by  the  farmers  of  $16,775,  we 
returned  to  them  at  the  end  of  1921,  after  a  little  less  than  five  months' 
business,  over  $19,000  as  refund,  as  interest  on  their  investment  and  as 
refund  on  the  commissions  that  they  had  paid  us.  Is  it  worth  while  on  an 
investment  of  $16,775  to  return  about  $19,400  in  five  months?  Is  it  a  pretty 
fair  kind  of  investment  from  the  standpoint  of  the  farmer?  Our  books  for 
January  alone  show  that  after  paying  all  of  our  salaries,  office  rent  and  other 
expenses,  and  operating  on  a  commission  that  is  now  about  15  percent  less 
than  the  old  line  firms,  because  they  cut  it  the  first  of  the  year  to  try  to  get 
back  a  little  business,  we  had  a  net  profit  of  $12,400.  That  money  is  held. 
there  as  earnings  that  belong  to  the  farmers.  Is  it  a  worth  while  proposi- 
tion? Do  you  begin  to  understand  why  the  commission  man  has  always 
liked  to  see  you  come  in?  Why  he  always  felt  that  he  could  meet  you  with  a 
smile  and  glad  hand?  You  begin  to  understand  it,  don't  you? 


110 

Here  is  another  interesting  fact  that  very  few  people  realize.  When  we 
opened  for  business  we  had  available  $12,000,  and  we  have  never  touched  a 
nickel  of  it  from  the  day  we  opened  our  doors.  After  we  bought  the  office 
supplies,  the  supplies  to  start,  we  had  $12,000  left  available,  and  we  have 
never  touched  a  nickel  of  it.  The  commission  man  has  always  operated  his 
business  on  the  other  fellow's  capital.  If  he  can  be  sure  of  a  reasonable 
flow  of  live  stock  all  the  time  he  doesn't  need  a  nickel's  worth  of  capital. 

Our  daily  bank  balance  for  the  first  twenty  days  of  January  averaged 
$127,400  and  was  never  at  any  time  below  $60,000.  Practically  all  of  it 
money  that  was  paid  in  for  live  stock  sold  by  us  that  we  had  issued  checks 
out  against.  Do  you  see  how  it  is  possible  for  the  commission  man  to  have  a 
little  side  line  here,  and  everyone  who  is  in  the  speculating  business,  who 
buy  and  sell  your  cattle  and  speculate  on  them?  We  could  have  safely  taken 
$60,000  of  that  money  and  invested  in  stuff  that  we  could  turn  over  in  two  or 
three  days'  time.  That  is  the  best  of  the  commission  business  that  the 
average  fellow  has  never  thought  of.  He  never  has  realized  that  he  was 
not  only  furnishing  the  commission  man  his  business,  but  that  he  was  fur- 
nishing the  capital  to  operate  it  on.  That  is  what  we  have  shown  absolutely 
in  the  conduct  of  our  business. 

STOCKERS  AND  FEEDERS. 

Now,  with  reference  to  the  stocker  and  feeder  cattle.  We  get  lots  of 
that,  of  course.  We  try  to  sell  every  hoof  of  that  directly  from  the  man 
that  ships  them  into  our  yards  to  the  feeder  from  the  corn  belt  that  wants 
to  buy  them.  If  we  cannot  do  that  today  we  place  a  valuation  on  them  at 
just  what  we  figure  they  will  bring.  We  will  turn  them  into  our  department 
known  as  the  stocker  and  feeder  department.  The  man  that  operates  that 
department  takes  them  in  there  at  every  nickel  he  thinks  he  can  get  out  of 
them.  It  is  comparable  with  the  way  the  speculator  does  his  business,  with 
this  exception,  that  we  figure  on  handling  that  business  on  a  cost  basis  and 
he  figures  on  handling  it  so  as  to  make  all  he  can  out  of  it.  That  department 
we  have  operated  for  the  last  six  months.  Up  to  date  we  have  lost  a  little 
bit  of  money  on  it,  but  that  is  just  as  the  books  stand  at  present.  Possibly 
another  month  or  six  weeks  it  may  wo.rk  out  a  little  bit  the  other  way.  It 
has  been  our  plan  to  operate  that  department  absolutely  on  a  cost  basis,  not 
making  a  profit  on  it,  but  giving  the  outside  man  who  wanted  to  buy  these 
cattle  the  benefit  of  eliminating  the  speculator  profit,  and  giving  the  man 
who  brought  the  cattle  the  benefit  of  the  speculator  profit,  or  his  share 
of  the  speculator  profit.  That,  gentlemen,  will  mean  a  good  many  hundred 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  all  of  the  stocker  and  feeder  cattle  what  go 
through  that  market  could  be  handled  in  that  manner. 

THE   HOG    MARKET. 

There  are  a  few  other  things  that  are  of  interest.  Take  the  hog  market, 
for  instance.  We  are  developing  at  South  St.  Paul  one  of  the  largest  hog 
markets  in  the  country.  There  are  many  days  when  we  have  more  hogs  on 
the  South  St.  Paul  market  than  we  have  at  the  Chicago  market.  Producers 
have  come  in  there  and  said:  "Well,  we  can't  ship  to  you,  because  it  is 
impossible  for  a  man  to  give  the  service  when  he  has  so  many  hogs  to  sell." 
Our  hog  salesman  has  handled  as  high  as  7,000  hogs  a  day.  A  week  ago 
yesterday  we  had  7,200  hogs  in  our  last  run  out  of  20,000  on  the  market.  My 
answer  to  those  fellows  has  been  this:  "Do  you  realize  that  a  packer  buyer 
has  to  do  his  work  just  as  carefully  as  a  salesman?  Do  you  realize  that  it 
isn't  uncommon  for  a  packer  buyer  to  walk  into  the  market  and  buy  10,000 
or  12,000  hogs  a  day,  one  buyer  alone?  If  you  get  a  salesman  that  has  as 
much  brains  as  the  packer  buyer,  there  is  no  reason  why  he  can't  sell  just 
as  many  hogs  as  one  packer  buyer  can  buy."  Then  they  say:  "Well,  he 
doesn't  have  the  time  to  spend  on  them.  He  don't  sell  them  as  high,  because 
he  doesn't  have  time  to  spend  on  them."  Did  you  ever  stop  to  think  that 
when  one  man  had  all  the  hogs  on  the  market  to  sell  and  there  were  five 
buyers  trying  to  buy  them,  that  the  salesman  had  the  point  of  advantage; 


ill 

and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  when  you  have  four  or  five  buyers  and 
forty  or  fifty  hog  salesmen,  that  the  buyer  has  the  point  of  vantage?  That 
is  a  business  principle  that  you  can't  get  around,  which  you  all  know,  if  you 
have  done  any  trading. 

The  condition  has  gotten  to  the  point  now  at  the  South  St.  Paul  market 
that  every  commission  man  is  afraid  to  price  his  hogs  until  our  salesman 
has  sold,  and  he  is  absolutely  setting  the  price  of  hogs  on  that  market.  I 
would  not  say  he  could  set  that  price  very  much  higher  than  it  normally 
should  be,  but  I  will  say  this:  If  you  will  take  the  South  St.  Paul  Reporter 
and  study  the  hog  market  for  the  last  five  months  as  compared  with  any 
other  five  months  in  the  last  ten  years,  you  will  find  that  the  price  of  hogs 
has  been  closer  to  Chicago  market  for  the  last  five  months  than  for  any 
previous  like  period.  We  have  sent  a  good  many  of  them  to  the  New  York 
packing  plants  and  other  places.  We  have  had  an  outside  buyer  all  the  time. 
When  the  outside  buyers  found  that  there  was  an  organization  on  that 
market  which  was  on  the  square  that  they  could  buy  their  hogs  from,  we 
have  had  no  trouble  whatsoever  in  getting  the  orders. 

Now,  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  that  can  be  true  of  any  producers'  organi- 
zation that  will  get  together  and  have  the  right  kind  of  management  and 
get  organized,  so  that  their  business  can  be  operated  on  the  square. 

THE  PRINCIPLE   IS    BIGHT. 

Now,  then,  when  we  carry  this  thing  just  one  step  farther,  you  have  all 
heard  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen.  You  all  know,  probably,  of  the  producers' 
organization  that  has  been  started  at  St.  Louis.  I  don't  know  so  much  about 
the  fundamental  plan  on  which  they  are  organized;  but  I  know  this,  that  if 
their  groundwork  has  been  properly  laid  in  the  country  before  they  started 
and  if  they  have  got  honest  men  at  the  head  of  it  the  thing  will  succeed, 
because  the  principle  is  right  and  you  can't  get  away  from  it. 

When  you  get  an  organization  of  that  kind  at  each  and  every  one  of  the 
principal  markets,  and  get  them  built  up  to  where  they  are  controlling  a 
third  or  a  half  of  all  of  the  live  stock,  or  possibly  a  higher  percentage  than 
that,  of  all  of  the  live  stock  that  comes  into  those  markets,  then  you  begin 
to  get  where  the  producer  is  somewhere  nearly  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
man  that  he  Is  trying  to  deal  with. 

That,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  condition  that  ought  to  be  brought  about. 
It  is  the  condition  that  we  ought  to  be  working  for.  It  is  the  condition  that 
we  must  have  if  we  are  to  continue  to  operate  this  business  and  continue 
to  exist  as  a  farming  population.  And  I  want  to  say  that  I  believe  the 
answer  to  our  problem,  I  believe  that  the  means,  and  the  only  means,  of 
bringing  about  those  conditions  is  through  cooperative  marketing. 

I  thank  you. 


THURSDAY    AFTERNOON    SESSION. 


February  23,  1922,  1:30  o'clock  P.  M. 

Girls'  Glee  Club Monmouth  College 

Vocal  duet Doris  and  Dorothy  Sites 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Mr.  Thome,  whom  we  fully  expected  to  be  here, 
was  called  to  Washington  and  had  to  send  his  assistant,  Mr.  W.  R.  Matheny, 
who  will  present  Mr.  Thome's  discussion  of  the  subject,  "Organized 
Agriculture  and  Its  Problems." 


112 


ORGANIZED    AGRICULTURE    AND    ITS    PROBLEMS. 
(Clifford  Thorne.) 

During  the  past  year  there  has  been  a  world  wide  depression,  affecting 
practically  all  lines  of  industry.  The  farmer  has  shared  in  these  conditions. 
In  this  country  he  has  probably  suffered  more  than  those  engaged  in  most 

of  the  other  lines  of  activity.  The  situation 
in  American  agriculture  today  is  probably 
worse  than  that  which  has  existed  during  any 
previous  year  of  the  present  generation.  In 
stating  that  fact,  we  must  not  forget  that 
500,000  railroad  employees  have  been  dis- 
charged and  deprived  of  their  daily  means  of 
livelihood  during  the  past  year,  while  you  still 
have  the  means  with  which  to  get  your  food 
and  most  of  the  necessities  of  life.  We  must 
not  forget  that  there  are  millions  of  people  In 
China,  in  Russia,  and  in  other  countries  that 
are  literally  starving  at  the  present  moment; 
and  we  must  not  forget  that  the  army  of  the 
unemployed  even  in  the  United  States  runs 
into  the  millions. 

Today  we  are  passing  through  that  after- 
the-war  reconstruction  period  which  follows 
every  important  struggle.  It  followed  the 
Napoleonic  Wars  in  Europe;  it  fol'owed  our 
War  of  1812;  it  followed  the  Civil  War;  and  a 
similar  condition  of  affairs  has  followed  every 
other  great  war  in  history.  I  am  not  one  of 
Clifford  Thorne.  those  who  can  be  classified  as  pessimistic.  This 

is   only  a  temporary  situation.     It  is  only  a 

question  of  a  few  months  or  a  few  years  until  conditions  will  be  substantially 
restored  as  they  were  prior  to  the  war.  But  it  will  be  a  mistake  if  we  let 
this  experience  go  by  without  learning  lessons  for  the  future.  It  is  during 
times  of  readjustment,  when  we  apply  the  acid  test  to  methods  and  policies 
of  the  past,  that  great  progress  is  generally  brought  about.  Let  us  make  a 
sort  of  appraisal  of  things  as  they  are  and  as  they  have  been  to  see  what 
lessons  we  should  learn  for  our  guidance  in  the  future. 

The  production,  transportation  and  sale  of  farm  products  and  your 
purchases  of  the  necessities  of  life  constitute  the  grand  divisions  of  the 
questions  confronting  you.  In  this  discussion  I  can  only  touch  upon  a  few 
of  the  outstanding  facts. 


A   PROBLEM   OF  PRODUCTION. 

First,  as  to  production:  It  would  be  folly  for  me  to  offer  suggestions 
to  you  practical  men  as  to  what  improvements  you  can  make  in  the  produc- 
tion of  your  products.  But  allow  me  to  make  just  one  brief  suggestion.  The 
manufacturers  of  the  country  are  organized  into  large  units;  they  study  de- 
velopments in  this  country  and  throughout  the  world  and  the  probable 
demand  for  their  products  in  the  future.  As  a  rule,  the  farmer  has  relied 
too  much  upon  his  own  personal  choice  and  his  individual  experience  as  to 
what  he  shall  produce  and  what  he  shall  not  produce.  The  day  has  come 
when  he  must  collectively,  with  his  associates,  study,  through  the  very  best 
experts  obtainable,  the  world  conditions,  the  tendencies  of  the  times,  what 
other  nations  are  producing,  and  what  are  the  probable  consumptive  pros- 
pects in  this  and  other  countries  for  all  the  principal  crops.  This  is  all  true, 
and  yet  you  should  not  form  an  exaggerated  impression  of  the  necessity  for 
control  of  production.  We  find  that  the  average  production  of  livestock  in 
this  country  per  capita  thirty  years  ago  was  over  30  per  cent  greater  than  it 
is  today.  We  find  that  the  production  of  grain  per  capita  forty  years  ago  was 


113 

practically  what  it  was  last  year.  Nevertheless,  we  must  recognize  and  study 
the  significant  changes  in  production  and  consumption  of  our  farm  products 
in  this  and  other  nations,  and  we  must  not  be  wholly  dependent  upon 
governmental  sources  for  our  information.  The  Standard  Oil,  the  Steel 
Trust,  the  International  Harvester  Co.,  the  great  grain  merchants,  the 
packers,  and  the  large  manufacturers  select  strong,  capable  experts  of  their 
own  to  gather  and  to  interpret  the  very  latest  and  best  information  obtain- 
able throughout  the  world  on  those  commodities  in  which  they  are  concerned. 
If  the  farmer  shall  exercise  proper  intelligence,  he  will  adopt  the  same  course 
of  action.  This  does  not  mean  necessarily  the  reduction  of  production,  but 
it  does  mean  possibly  a  more  diversified  character  of  production  and  selec- 
tion of  the  commodities  which  you  will  raise  and  sell. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  has  rendered  invaluable  service  along 
these  lines,  and'  during  the  past  year  your  authorized  representatives  have 
helped  to  place  additional  facilities  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture for  this  very  purpose.  Incidentally,  in  this  connection,  I  want  to  say 
that  last  winter,  when  we  appeared  before  the  House  Committee  on  Agri- 
culture we  secured  a  statement  from  the  Department  of  Agriculutre  to 
present  to  the  committee  concerning  the  control  over  news  gathering  agencies 
throughout  the  world  that  organized  business  has  built  up  through  our 
government,  compared  to  that  which  agriculture  had  obtained.  We  found 
that  the  Department  of  Commerce  had  28  representatives;  the  Department 
of  State  had  43  representatives;  and  there  were  626  in  the  Consular  Service. 
The  following  is  a  direct  quotation  from  the  letter  from  the  Department  of 
Agriculture: 

"We  have  no  men  in  foreign  countries  selected  to  collect  crop, 
livestock,  or  trade  information.  *  *  *  Through  other  departments,  we 
do  get  information,  but  these  foreign  representatives  are  not  in  the 
employ  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  are  not  trained  or  experi- 
enced in  the  agricultural  industry." 

Recently  a  substantial  sum  has  been  appropriated  to  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  for  the  building  up  of  more  efficient  news  gathering  agencies 
throughout  the  world;  and  this  important  branch  of  the  public  service  is 
being  ably  developed  under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  Secretary  Wallace.  Never 
in  the  history  of  the  world'  has  there  been  a  more  efficient  organized  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  government  and  of  organized  agriculture  to  give  practical 
assistance  to  the  farmers  along  the  line  of  a  more  intelligent  and  efficient 
production  of  farm  products.  And  yet  you  are  far,  far  behind  organized 
business  in  the  intelligent  control  of  your  production. 

TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS. 

Second,  as  to  transportation:  Next  to  agriculture,  the  greatest  industry 
in  the  United  States  is  that  of  the  railroads.  If  it  should  cost  as  much  today 
to  move  a  ton  one  mile  as  it  did  a  century  ago,  your  transportation  cost 
would  be  approximately  sixteen  times  what  it  is  today.  That  marvelous 
change  has  been  brought  about  by  some  revolutionary  inventions  and  develop- 
ments in  the  industry.  But  in  the  same  breath,  I  want  to  add  that  it  costs 
as  much  today  to  ship  a  ton  one  mile  as  it  did  forty  years  ago. 

In  other  words,  so  far  as  the  benefit  to  the  public  from  these  phenomenal 
developments  in  inventions,  the  economies  effected  by  the  large  consolidations 
of  railroad  systems  and  the  improved  methods  of  operation  is  concerned,  we 
have  made  practically  no  progress  in  the  last  forty  years.  And  yet,  during 
that  forty  years,  we  have  built  practically  three-fourths  of  the  transporta- 
tion system  as  we  see  it  today.  There  has  been  built  up  on  American  soil 
the  greatest  transportation  facility  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  railroads 
distributed  partially  the  benefits  derived  from  invention  and  other  methods 
of  progress  in  their  industry  for  many  years.  The  forces  of  the  government 
and  the  forces  of  society  and  commerce  compelled  this  result. 


114 

THE  BECOBD  OF  BEGTJLATIOlf. 

Have  we  had  too  much  regulation?  Let  us  consider  one  or  two  facts: 
Conditions  since  the  world  war  have  been  abnormal  in  all  industries.  When 
the  railroads  were  taken  over  by  the  government  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  after  thirty  years  of  regulation,  they  were  making,  above  all  expenses 
and  taxes  and  interest  on  debt,  a  rate  of  return  on  their  capital  stock  out- 
standing in  the  hands  of  the  public,  approximately  double  what  it  was  when 
railroad'  regulation  commenced  thirty  years  ago.  They  were  making  practi- 
cally double  the  amount  per  mile  of  line  which  they  did  when  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  was  created.  Their  total  net  earnings  above  all 
operating  expenses  and  taxes  during  three  years  ending  with  1917  were 
practically  three  times  what  they  were  thirty  years  ago.  And  the  average 
amount  earned  on  the  capital  stock  outstanding  in  the  hands  of  the  public 
was  practically  double  what  English  railroads  were  earning. 

During  the  three  years  ending  June  30,  1918,  the  last  three  years  of 
governmental  regulation  before  the  carriers  were  taken  over  by  the  govern- 
ment, American  railroads  earned  on  an  average  the'  largest  net  earnings 
above  all  expenses  and'  taxes  and  the  largest  rate  of  return  on  their  property 
investment  or  book  value  which  they  ever  earned  since  the  steam  engine 
was  invented,  so  far  as  records  have  been  kept. 

In  the  light  of  such  a  record  as  that,  no  man  can  honestly  claim  that  we 
have  had  too  much  regulation.  The  great  question  is — have  we  had  enough 
regulation?  Have  the  railroads  obtained  control  over  the  powers  that  we 
have  set  up  to  control  them?  That  is  the  great  issue. 

WHAT    HAPPENED    DURING    THE    WAR. 

Now  let  us  consider  briefly  what  transpired  during  the  war  period. 
Every  other  great  nation  on  earth  either  owned  its  railroads  or  took  over 
the  control  and  operation  of  its  railroads  at  the  beginning  of  the  World'  War. 
The  United  States  was  practically  the  last  great  nation  to  take  this  step. 
The  war  necessity  demanded  it. 

But  when  we  took  our  carriers  over,  we  immediately  placed  them  under 
the  control  of  railroad  men,  but  we  required  consolidated,  unified  activities. 
In  his  address  at  Omaha  on  June  10th,  1919,  Mr.  Hines,  director  general  of 
railroads,  made  the  following  statement: 

"I  want  you  to  remember  this  fact.  When  the  government  took 
possession  of  the  railroads,  not  a  single  railroad  was  put  under  the 
direction  of  a  man  who  was  not  a  railroad  man.  Almost  without  excep- 
tion every  railroad  was  left  under  control  of  the  very  same  operating 
men  who  had  controlled  it  under  private  operation,  and  when  the  present 
government  control  ceases  and  the  railroad's  shall  be  turned  back  to 
private  management,  these  same  men  will  continue  to  control  the  rail- 
road operations." 

There  were  some  national  policies  which  the  central  administration,  also 
composed  of  railroad  men,  required  these  operating  officials  to  adopt.  When 
we  took  over  the  roads  we  guaranteed — regardless  of  how  high  labor  costs 
should  go,  and  regardless  of  how  high  the  price  of  materials  would  reach — 
we  guaranteed  the  railroads  a  net  income  over  and'  above  all  expenses  equiv- 
alent to  the  average  of  the  most  prosperous  three-year  period  in  their  entire 
history.  During  that  period,  when  some  folks  profiteered  and  other  folks 
went  broke,  when  all  industry  was  centered  on  war  activities,  during  that 
period  of  great  change  and  hazard  and  uncertainty,  we  gave  the  carriers  the 
equivalent  of  a  government  bond  equaling  their  net  income  for  their  most 
prosperous  period.  And  at  the  close  of  the  war,  when  everybody  else  was 
forced  to  reduce  their  charges,  at  a  period  when  American  Industry  was 
trying  to  readjust  itself  in  getting  back  to  normal,  we  deliberately  authroized 
these  same  railroads  to  increase  their  prices,  attempting  to  give  them  one 
billion,  five  hundred  million  dollars  through  increased  rates. 


115 

EFFORTS  TO  CORRECT  BLUNDER  OF  1920. 

In  order  to  thoroughly  appreciate  this  stupendous  blunder  which  was 
made  in  1920,  I  want  to  recite  a  few  salient  facts. 

In  spite  of  the  provision  of  the  law  known  as  Section  15-A  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Act,  we  were  finally  able  to  persuade  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  that  railroad  rates  must  come  down.  Great  credit  is  due 
to  that  tribunal  that  it  withstood  the  demands  of  the  carriers  of  this  nation, 
backed  up  by  some  of  the  greatest  leaders  in  commerce  and  in  the  editorial 
chairs  of  our  great  newspapers  and  magazines.  In  spite  of  this  powerful 
influences,  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  required  the  railroads  to 
reduce  the  freight  rates  on  the  long  hauls  on  livestock  and  to  reduce  the  rates 
on  grain  and  hay,  although  the  railroads  were  not  earning  what  Section  15-A 
attempts  to  insure  them. 

We  then  filed  a  petition  for  a  general  reduction  of  from  10  to  20  per  cent 
on  all  farm  products.  The  petition  rested  in  the  hands  of  the  commission 
for  several  weeks,  but  before  it  was  given  a  docket  number  the  railroads 
came  before  the  commission  and  agreed  to  a  voluntary  reduction  of  10  per 
cent  on  all  basic  farm  products  throughout  the  United'  States.  This  was  a 
moral  victory  on  the  part  of  agriculture,  and  it  was  a  great  concession  on 
the  part  of  the  railroads.  There  are  some  big,  strong,  far-sighted  men  in  the 
railroad  industry  who  finally  recognized  the  justice  of  our  claims.  I  desire 
to  review  briefly  the  part  played  by  the  American  Farm  Bureau  Federation 
in  securing  these  results. 

Last  March  we  recommended  to  the  executive  committee  of  the  American 
Farm  Bureau  Federation  that  we  should  file  a  petition  with  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  asking  for  a  general  reduction  in  the  freight  rates 
on  basic  farm  products.  The  finances  of  the  federation  did  not  permit  the 
trial  of  such  a  case.  So  it  was  decided  to  adopt  the  following  course  of 
action: 

First,  present  a  memorial  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to 
Congress  and  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  demanding  a  general 
reduction. 

Second,  call  a  national  shippers'  conference,  in  order  to  persuade  other 
industries  to  unite  in  this  demand. 

And,  third,  join  with  other  organizations  handling  individual  commodi- 
ties to  help  them  get  reductions  on  the  basic  necessities  of  life. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Howard,  president  of  the  American  Farm  Bureau  Federation, 
presented  the  memorial  to  the  President  and  to  the  Commission.  We  joined 
with  the  National  Live  Stock  Shippers'  League  in  obtaining  the  reduction 
on  live  stock,  and  we  joined  with  various  state  railroad  commissions  and  the 
Farmers'  National  Grain  Dealers'  Association  in  getting  the  reduction  in  the 
rates  on  grain  and  hay.  The  trial  of  that  case  alone  lasted  three  weeks.  The 
order  of  the  Commission  required  a  reduction  of  forty  million  dollars  an- 
nually, the  largest  single  reduction  ever  ordered  by  the  Commission  in  its 
entire  history. 

Mr.  Howard  was  invited  to  meet  with  a  committee  for  a  conference  with 
representatives  of  the  railroads  and  of  industry  in  regard  to  a  general 
reduction  in  freight  rates.  The  conference  was  held  at  New  York.  Mr. 
Howard  insisted  on  an  immediate  reduction  of  10  per  cent,  with  subsequent 
reductions  as  fast  as  lowering  of  operating  expenses  would  permit.  A  sub- 
committee of  the  executive  officers  agreed  to  this  program,  but  later  at  a 
.  general  conference  held  in  Chicago  on  October  14th,  the  railroad  executives 
representing  over  90  per  cent  of  the  mileage  in  the  United  States  declined 
to  adopt  the  suggestion.  Therefore,  the  American  Farm  Bureau  Federation 
finally  decided  to  file  the  petition  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
which  I  have  briefly  described. 

As  previously  stated,  the  Commission  did  not  file  the  petition,  but  gave 
it  a  docket  number  for  several  weeks.  In  the  meantime  the  railroads  came 
before  the  Commission,  agreeing  to  put  in  the  10  per  cent  reduction,  thereby 
reversing  their  former  policy.  After  this  concession  before  the  Commission 
the  railroads  and  representatives  of  shippers  and  manufacturers  held  other 


Conferences  in  Washington,  at  which  certain  legislative  matters  were  Con- 
sidered. There  have  been  some  charges  and  counter  charges  concerning 
what  transpired  at  these  conferences.  We  cannot  believe,  however,  that  the 
officials  of  the  Federation  have  knowingly  done  anything  wrong.  We  have 
found  the  leaders  of  the  Federation  to  be  a  magnificent  set  of  men,  with  a 
high  sense  of  honor.  At  times  there  have  been  differences  of  opinion,  but 
in  the  end  on  every  basic  policy  there  has  been  harmony  amongst  your 
chosen  leaders.  From  time  to  time,  as  the  years  go  by,  you  men  must  expect 
attacks  and  counter-attacks  upon  your  organization.  These  things  are 
inevitable  if  the  Federation  exerts  any  influence  in  American  life. 

THE   PRESENT   SITUATION. 

Today  there  are  three  important  problems  in  the  transportation  industry 
confronting  us: 

(a)  What  further  reductions,  if  any,  shall  be  ordered  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission?    In  this  connection  you  are  interested  in  the  freight 
rates  on  many  commodities  that  you  consume.    We  hope  that  the  tentative 
reduction  which  will  expire  July  1st  will  be  made  permanent.    We  hope  that 
as  fast  as  further  reductions  in   operating  expenses   are  effected,   freight 
rates  shall  be  reduced  accordingly  until  the  entire  advance  of  last  year  has 
been  eliminated.    The  Commission  is  compelled,  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Act,  to  determine  what  is  a  reasonable  rate  of  return  to  which  the  railroads 
are  entitled  after  the  first  of  March.    That  issue  is  now  pending  and  up  for 
decision  in  this  general  subject. 

(b)  The  valuation  of  all  of  our  railroads,  which  has  been  in  progress 
for  eight  years,  is  now  rapidly  nearing  completion.     The  final  conclusions 
on  this  subject  will  control  the  level  of  freight  and  passenger  rates  to  be 
paid  by  this  generation  and  future  generations.     That  industry  which  bears 
approximately  one-half  of  the  transportation  burden  of  the  country  should 
certainly  participate  in  these  important  proceedings. 

(c)  There  are   some   important   amendments  to   the  present   railroad 
legislation  that  should  be  secured.    The  railroads  are  trying  to  concentrate 
all  regulation  in  the  hands  of  the  central  government.    In  my  judgment,  too 
much  centralization  is  just  as  dangerous  as  too  much  decentralizat'on.    Our 
Fathers,  who  framed  this  government,  conceived  a  great  system  which  should 
combine  local  home  rule  with  a  powerful  central  government.    The  state  is 
far  closer  to  the  needs  and  demands  of  the  local  community  than  a  tribunal 
a  thousand  miles  away  from  home.    On  the  other  hand,  the  national  govern- 
ment is  far  better  equipped  to  protect  us  from  enemies  abroad  and  to  com- 
pel peace  at  home.    It  is  this  check  and  balance,  this  dual  system,  this  fed- 
eral system  of  statecraft  which  constitutes  the  greatest  achievement  in  the 
science  of  government  in  the  history  of  the  human  race.    A  tendency  to- 
wards too  much   decentralization  brought   on  the  Civil  War;    a  tendency 
toward  too  much  concentralization  will  result  in  a  government  by  clerks, 
an  incompetent  bureaucracy,  which  will  ultimately  undermine  and  destroy 
the  very  government  itself.     We  must  preserve  for  posterity  this  great  fed- 
eral system  which  has  stood  the  test  of  more  than  a  century  and  which  other 
governments  today  are  adopting.    Long  ago  England  adopted  this  principle 
as  to  Australia,  Canada,  and  other  parts  of  her  Dominion.    Today  she  is 
being  compelled  to  adopt  it  as  to  Ireland. 

A    QUESTION    OF    FUNDAMENTALS. 

If  it  is  wise  to  abandon  this  dual  system  of  government  as  to  our  rail- 
roads, it  will  only  be  a  question  of  time  when  other  forms  of  organized  busi- 
ness will  succeed  in  doing  what  the  railroads  have  accomplished.  This 
proposition  strikes  at  fundamentals;  it  has  to  do  with  the  method  of  gov- 
ernment. What  is  it  that  distinguishes  the  United  States  amongst  all  na- 
tions? Is  it  because  it  is  a  republic?  No.  There  were  republics  centuries 
ago.  Is  it  because  it  is  a  large  central  power?  No.  There  have  been  larger 
and  stronger  central  governments.  That  which  makes  the  American  scheme 


11* 

of  government  unique  in  all  history  is  the  federal  system,  combining  local 
home  rule  with  a  great  central  power. 

Too  much  "nationalism"  is  just  as  wrong  as  too  much  "states'  rights". 
There  is  a  happy  medium. 

It  is  not  this  government  as  one  nation,  nor  the  several  states,  but  the 
combination  in  a  federal  plan  that  has  given  such  a  distinct  contribution  to 
the  welfare  of  humanity.  It  is  this  federal  plan  that  must  be  most  jealously 
guarded.  A  tendency,  one  way  or  the  other,  toward  centralization  or  to- 
wards decentralization,  is  dangerous. 

It  must  be  expected  that,  from  time  to  time,  there  will  be  strong  men, 
men  who  are  ambitious  to  leave  distinguished  names  in  history,  who  will 
champion  a  powerful,  centralized  government  in  the  United  States.  There 
always  has  been,  and  there  always  will  be,  a  dramatic  attraction  in  the 
building  of  great  empires  about  a  central  authority;  the  glory  of  power  in 
a  supreme  authority  interests  and  awes  even  those  who  are  governed. 

The  strength  of  nations  does  not  lie  in  the  vastness  of  the  territory 
under  one  highly  centralized  and  supreme  authority.  This  truth  has  been 
centuries  in  the  learning. 

That  government  which  hugs  closest  to  the  sober  and  mature  judgment 
of  the  people,  and  keeps  in  touch  with  the  demands  of  changing  conditions, 
is  the  one  which  best  fulfills  its  mission  and  which  will  live  the  longest. 
The  makers  of  government  must  set  as  their  goal,  not  the  creation  of  an 
extensive  centralized  machinery,  but  a  human  organism,  capable  of  reach- 
ing out,  and  searching  after,  and  meeting  the  demands  of  life. 

CO-OPERATIVE   MARKETING   PLANS. 

Now,  as  to  the  sale  of  farm  products:  During  the  past  thirty  years  we 
have  witnessed  an  enormous  development  in  the  organization  of  labor  and 
business.  We  have  seen  some  remarkable  developments  in  the  railroad  in- 
dustry,  public  utilities,  steel  industry,  manufacturing  industries  of  all  kinds, 
and  amongst  the  laborers  of  the  land.  These  facts  are  common  knowledge. 
The  farmer  has  been  the  slowest  to  engage  in  organized  activity  in  the  sale 
of  his  products.  We  have  developed  here  in  the  Grain  Belt  local  farmers' 
co-operative  elevators.  There  are  over  4,000  of  these  elevators  owned  locally 
by  farmers.  This  co-operative  grain  movement  probably  handles  a  larger 
volume  of  products  than  any  other  form  of  co-operative  activity  in  the  world. 
But  very  rarely  have  these  elevators  gone  beyond  the  country  station. 

A  year  ago  last  July,  Mr.  Howard,  of  the  Farm  Bureau  Federation,  called 
a  national  conference  to  devise  an  improved  method  of  marketing  grain. 
A  Committee  of  Seventeen  was  created  to  make  an  appraisal  of  the  co-operat- 
ive marketing  methods  that  had  been  developed,  with  instructions  to  pre- 
pare a  plan  that  the  grain  producers  of  the  country  might  adopt.  If  you 
were  appointed  on  such  a  committee,  what  would  be  the  method  of  investi- 
gation that  you  would  choose?  Would  you  go  off  in  a  corner  and  conceive 
a  plan,  developing  it  out  of  your  inner  consciousness?  Here  was  the  pos- 
sibility of  an  organization  which,  if  successful,  would  probably  do  a  business 
aggregating  several  hundred  million  dollars  annually.  The  Farmers'  Grain 
Marketing  Committee  of  Seventeen  undertook,  first,  to  make  a  comprehen- 
sive review  of  the  methods  which  have  been  proved  to  be  successful  by  co- 
operative organizations  throughout  this  country  and  Canada.  They  invited 
before  them  such  a  man  as  Julius  H.  Barnes,  who  was  the  head  of  the  U.  S. 
Grain  Corporation  during  the  War;  Mr.  George  E.  Farrand,  General  Counsel 
for  the  California  Fruit  Growers  Exchange;  Mr.  Bayne,  representing  the 
Agricultural  Commission  of  Canada;  Mr.  Bernard  M.  Baruch,  the  head  of  the 
War  Industries  Board  during  the  World  War;  a  representative  of  the  cotton 
industry  of  the  South;  and  Mr.  Aaron  Sapiro,  representing  certain  fruit 
organizations  of  California;  all  of  these  men  addressed  them.  Mr.  Gates, 
former  president  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  was  one  of  their  guests. 
A  corps  of  experts  were  employed  to  gather  data.  Sub-committees  were  ap- 
pointed to  investigate  at  first  hand  the  actual  accomplishments  of  other  co- 
operative enterprises.  All  of  the  co-operative  contracts  which  were  then  in 


118 

effect  in  any  part  of  the  country  were  gathered  together.  A  review  was 
made  of  the  co-operative  stautes,  and  of  the  decisions  interpreting  and  ap- 
plying these  statutes.  Papers  were  drafted  and  submitted  to  a  committee 
of  attorneys,  consisting  of  the  Honorable  Frederick  W.  Lehmann,  former 
Solicitor  General  of  the  United  States;  Mr.  J.  H.  Broady,  former  member 
of  the  commission  appointed  to  recodify  the  laws  of  Nebraska  and  of  the 
Commission  appointed  to  draft  a  suggested  constitution  for  the  state,  and 
an  attorney  for  various  co-operative  organizations  in  that  state  for  many 
years;  Judge  John  G.  Park,  former  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  Kansas 
City,  also  Corporation  Counsel  for  Kansas  City;  Mr.  George  E.  Farrand, 
General  Counsel  for  the  California  Fruit  Growers  Exchange  and  other  fruit 
organizations  on  the  Pacific  Coast;  Mr.  Aaron  Sapiro,  of  San  Francisco,  at- 
torney for  the  Raisin  Growers  and  Prune  Growers,  and  a  number  of  other 
co-operative  organizations;  and  Mr.  Thorne  who  acted  as  chairman  of  the 
committee.  This  committee  devoted  a  solid  week — working  day  and  night — 
to  a  review  of  the  papers  which  had  been  drafted.  The  proposed  contracts, 
charter  and  by-laws  were  then  submitted  to  a  ratification  conference  at  Chi- 
cago, delegates  to  which  were  selected  from  the  principal  farm  organizations 
in  every  state  of  the  grain  belt.  After  a  two  days'  session,  this  convention 
unanimously  adopted  without  change  the  recommendations  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Seventeen. 

I  have  reviewed  these  facts  simply  for  the  purpose  of  showing  to  you 
the  great  care  taken  to  devise  a  plan  that  would  prove  workable  and  safe. 
At  the  present  moment  the  U.  S.  Grain  Growers,  Inc.,  is  authorized  to  trans- 
act business  in  the  twenty-one  leading  grain  states  of  the  country.  It  has 
a  membership  of  over  48,880,  and  has  contracts  covering  the  grain  of  these 
farmers  totalling  almost  one  hundred  million  bushels  annually  for  the  next 
five  years.  Today  it  is  probably  the  largest  co-operative  enterprise  ever 
launched. 

The  first  annual  meeting,  or  "National  Convention"  of  this  corporation 
will  be  held  in  Chicago  on  March  21st.  Immediately  after  this  it  is  expected 
that  a  national  sales  agency  will  be  established  and  the  corporation  will  be- 
gin the  transaction  of  business.  At  that  time  it  will  probably  have  under 
contract  over  100  million  bushels  of  grain,  constituting  perhaps  the  largest 
single  grain  corporation  in  the  world. 

Co-operative  marketing  committees  have  also  been  created  by  the  Farm 
Bureau  to  devise  plans  in  the  live  stock  industry,  the  cotton  industry,  the 
fruit  and  vegetable  industry,  the  milk  industry,  and  various  other  businesses. 
Other  marketing  organizations  have  been  created  for  the  collective  selling 
of  agricultural  products. 

Mistakes  will  undoubtedly  be  made.  There  has  been  only  one  man  who 
never  made  a  mistake,  and  they  crucified  him.  But  if  you  farmers  have 
the  courage  to  swing  together,  if  you  have  the  foresight  to  select  able,  broad 
gauged,  far  sighted  men  to  transact  your  business,  we  firmly  believe  that, 
within  the  next  few  years,  the  agricultural  industry  will  be  organized  for 
business  purposes  as  never  before  in  our  history.  Similar  organizations  for 
the  purchases  of  the  prime  necessities  of  farm  life  must  be  made. 

What  are  the  reasons  causing  the  wide  spread  between  the  price  the 
farmer  receives  and  the  price  the  consumer  pays?  First,  there  is  the  lack 
of  adequate  storage  facilities;  second,  the  lack  of  adequate  credit;  third, 
the  lack  of  adequate  news  gathering  agencies  and  absence  of  collective  bar- 
gaining. These  functions  must  be  performed  by  organized  agriculture  if 
results  are  to  be  accomplished. 

BETTEB   CREDIT   FACILITIES   NEEDED. 

The  creation  of  agricultural  credit  institutions  under  the  ownership  and 
control  of  the  farmers  themselves  must  be  effected.  Existing  governmental 
agencies  must  be  revised  so  as  to  meet  the  needs  and  requirements  of  the 
agricultural  community. 


119 

The  head  of  a  large  banking  institution  in  Chicago  has  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement: 

"In  a  period  of  the  greatest  stringency  ever  known  in  the  rural 
districts,  the  Federal  Reserve  System,  with  its  six  billion  of  assets, 
held  less  than  4  per  cent  of  its  assets  in  agricultural  and  live  stock 
paper.  Now,  it  is  said  that  54  per  cent  of  the  total  deposits  of  the  coun- 
try originate  in  these  small  rural  banks.  On  that  basis  they  should 
be  entitled  to  at  least  one-half  the  loanable  funds  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
System,  or  three  billion  instead  of  the  230  million  of  livestock  and  agri- 
cultural paper  held  by  Federal  Reserve  banks  on  July  31,  1921,  and, 
based  on  proportionate  part  of  wealth  of  the  Nation,  they  would  be  en- 
titled to  over  two  billion  of  credit." 

Such  a  condition  of  affairs  is  inexcusable.  You  are  furnishing  the  credit 
for  other  people  to  speculate  with.  You  are  furnishing  the  credit  for  other 
people  to  make  the  middlemen's  profits.  The  present  financial  legislation 
is  devised  to  help  establish  long-term  credits.  This  is  taken  care  of  under 
the  Farm  Land  Bank  Law.  The  bulk  of  the  banking  of  the  country  is  done 
on  30  to  90  day  paper.  In  order  to  constitute  agricultural  paper  certain 
specific  requirements  must  be  met  and  even  then  the  longest  time  is  six 
months.  Where  the  average  turnover  in  an  industry  is  a  year  and  the  turn- 
over extends  over  a  period  of  three  years,  as  it  does  in  the  live  stock  indus- 
try, there  is  something  lacking, — there  is  a  hiatus  in  our  financial  legislation. 
We  must  take  care  of  that  paper  which  is  not  the  short  term  paper  nor  the 
extremely  long  term  paper.  We  believe  the  achievement  of  this  result 
constitutes  one  of  the  great  tasks  ahead  of  us.  The  stablishment  and  main- 
tenance of  a  more  adequate  agricultural  credit  is  one  of  the  problems  before 
the  American  farmer  at  the  present  time. 

PRODUCTION  COST  IMPORTANT. 

I  should  like  to  discuss  briefly  that  old,  old  problem  that  we  have  in- 
herited from  our  grandfathers — the  tariff  question — but  time  forbids.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  you  farmers  must  prove  to  the  officials  at  Washington  the 
difference  between  the  cost  of  production  at  home  and  abroad.  That  is  what 
the  manufacturer  docs;  that  is  what  he  has  been  doing  for  the  past  fifty 
years  when  tariff  laws  have  been  framed.  The  farmers,  collectively,  have 
never  undertaken  that  task  in  a  systematic,  business  like  way.  Unless  you 
do  this,  you  cannot  expect  to  be  protected  against  the  low  priced  lands  and 
miserable  living  conditions  of  foreign  nations. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  many  groups,  many  organizations  of  farm- 
ers, appealing  to  you  for  their  support.  Many  of  these  are  officered  by 
honest,  able  men.  I  shall  not  indulge  in  any  attack  on  any  group  of  organ- 
ized farmers  in  this  state  or  any  other  state.  By  the  slow  processes  of  ex- 
perience you  will  learn  whom  you  can  trust. 

WHAT  ORGANIZATION    HAS   ACCOMPLISHED. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  review  briefly  some  of  the  achievements  of 
organized  agriculture: 

First.  During  the  past  year  you  have  helped  to  write  upon  the  federal 
statute  books  a  law  providing  for  the  federal  regulation  of  our  grain  ex- 
changes. That  is  just  as  momentous  an  event  in  the  history  of  the  grain 
industry  as  was  the  original  enactment  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Law  in 
the  railroad  industry.  It  is  for  the  same  purpose;  regulation.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  our  people  we  have  provided  for  government 
regulation  and  control  of  these  great  public  market  places. 

Second.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  we  have 
a  law  providing  for  the  governmental  regulation  and  control  of  the  live 
stock  exchanges  and  the  packing  industry.  The  American  Farm  Bureau 
Federation  did  some  strong,  forcible  work  in  connection  with  the  enactment 
of  this  legislation. 


120 

Third.  Organized  agriculture  has  helped  in  the  establishment  of  the 
famous  Agricultural  Bloc  which  has  so  vigorously  supported  agricultural 
measures. 

Fourth.  You  have  helped  to  secure  the  first  general  reduction  in  the 
freight  rates  on  any  basic  commodity  throughout  the  United  States  that  has 
ever  been  obtained  in  the  history  of  American  railroading,  a  reduction 
which  will  save  the  farmers  of  our  country  approximately  one  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars  annually. 

Fifth.  You  have  helped  in  a  marked  degree  to  prevent  the  enactment 
of  a  sales  tax  as  a  substitute  for  an  excess  profits  tax.  A  sales  tax  dis- 
tributes the  burdens  of  the  government  in  accordance  with  what  people 
oonsume.  That  is  not  exactly  the  result,  but  in  substance  that  is  the  effect. 
The  cost  of  government  should  be  borne  not  in  accordance  with  what  we  con- 
sume, but  in  accordance  with  the  benefits  we  derive  from  government  or 
in  accordance  with  our  ability  to  bear  that  burden.  A  great  capitalist  may 
not  consume  very  much  more  than  you  or  I,  but  he  may  have  a  billion 
dollars  worth  of  property  protected  in  a  thousand  different  cities  and  hamlets 
throughout  the  country.  He  should  certainly  bear  a  larger  portion  of  the 
costs  of  government  than  you  or  I. 

Sixth.  Two  years  ago  you  helped  to  secure  a  reduction  in  the  tentative 
valuation  of  railroad  properties  upon  which  freight  rates  have  to  be  based, 
aggregating  one  billion,  seven  hundred  million  dollars.  This  meant  a  net 
annual  saving  of  approximately  one  hundred  million  dollars  to  the  shippers 
of  the  country.  And  you  helped  to  force  a  part  of  the  burden  over  on  pas- 
senger traffic  which  the  railroads  were  proposing  to  place  on  freight  traffic. 
This  meant  an  additional  saving  to  the  freight  shippers  of  approximately 
three  hundred  million  dollars  annually. 

Seventh.  You  helped  to  persuade  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  to 
reverse  its  former  position  and  to  file  a  complaint  against  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation,  demanding  a  change  in  the  "Pittsburgh  Plus"  system  of 
fixing  prices  on  steel  products  throughout  the  country.  The  agricultural 
industry  consumes  the  second  largest  amount  of  steel  products  of  any  indus- 
try in  the  country,  and  you  are  vitally  concerned  in  the  Pittsburgh  plus  case. 
Today  prices  on  rolled  steel  products  are  made  on  the  price  at  Pittsburgh 
plus  the  freight  from  Pittsburgh,  even  though  the  steel  is  actually  produced 
at  Chicago  or  Birmingham.  This  fictitious  fright  cost  levies  a  burden  upon 
the  consumer  of  iron  and  steel  products  throughout  the  West,  aggregating 
several  dollars  a  ton  on  every  ton  you  use.  In  one  building  in  Chicago 
this  added  cost  amounted  to  over  $60,000.00.  The  total  burden  aggregates 
many  millions. 

Eighth.  You  have  helped  to  cystallize  the  great  co-operative  movement 
throughout  the  nation,  which  will  enable  farmers  to  sell  their  products  col- 
lectively in  a  sane,  business-like  way. 

I  have  recited  these  facts  simply  to  demonstrate  in  a  concise  manner 
the  real  value  of  organized  activity  and  a  few  of  the  achievements  that 
you  have  helped  to  bring  about. 

FABMEBS  BIGHT  TO  OBQANIZE. 

This  is  a  day  of  organization.  That  is  the  great  lesson  that  you  must 
learn  as  a  result  of  the  experience  of  the  past  few  years.  If  it  is  right  for 
those  men  who  sell  your  grain  to  unite  and  fix  prices  which  they  shall 
charge;  if  it  is  right  for  those  who  sell  your  live  stock  to  do  likewise;  if  it  is 
right  for  the  great  steel  companies  to  unite  in  one  large  company,  handling 
50  per  cent  of  the  steel  of  the  nation;  if  it  is  right  for  the  railroads  of  Amer- 
ica to  unite  in  one  great  association  representing  over  90  per  cent  of  the  rail- 
road mileage  of  the  nation;  then  It  is  right  for  the  farmers  of  America  to 
unite  in  a  few,  powerful  Institutions  which  will  safeguard  their  interests.  The 


121 

leading  men  of  the  country  recognize  this  fundamental  truth.     Here  is  an 
extract  from  the  President's  recent  message  to  which  I  want  you  to  listen: 

"It  is  rather  shocking  to  be  told,  and  to  have  the  statement  strongly 
supported,  that  9,000,000  bales  of  cotton,  raised  on  American  plantations 
in  a  given  year,  will  actually  be  worth  more  to  the  producers  than 
13,000,000  bales  would  have  been.  Equally  shocking  is  the  statement 
that  700,000,000  bushels  of  wheat,  raised'  by  American  farmers,  would 
bring  them  more  money  than  1,000,000,000  bushels.  Yet  these  are  not 
exaggerated  statements.  In  a  world  where  there  are  tens  of  millions 
who  need  food  and  clothing,  which  they  cannot  get,  such  a  condition  is 
sure  to  indict  the  social  system  which  makes  it  possible. 

"In  the  main,  the  remedy  lies  in  distribution  and  marketing.  Every 
proper  encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  co-operative  marketing 
programmes.  Those  have  proven  very  helpful  to  the  co-operative  com- 
munities in  Europe.  In  Russia  the  co-operative  community  has  become 
a  recognized  bulwark  of  law  and  order,  and  saved  individualism  from 
engulfment  in  social  paralysis.  Utimately  they  will  be  accredited  with 
the  salvation  of  the  Russian  state." 

In  these  movements  we  cannot  succeed  unless  we  have  the  confidence  of 
each  other.  Alone  and  single  handed,  we  cannot  win.  You  remember 
what  Abraham  Lincoln  said:  "The  twig  by  itself  is  easily  broken,  but  bound 
together  with  others  in  a  solid,  compact  bundle,  the  strongest  arm  cannot 
break  them."  Individually  you  and  I  are  weak  and  ineffectual;  but  together 
we  are  strong  and  powerful.  If  the  farmers  of  America  can  only  see  their 
way  clear  gradually  to  center  their  efforts  in  a  few  great  national  organiza- 
tions, agriculture  will  be  the  most  powerful  force  in  American  life. 

FACTS  REGARDING  PRICES. 

In  order  to  thoroughly  appreciate  the  necessity  for  organized  activity  I 
desire  to  cite  a  few  concrete  facts: 

If  we  take  the  average  wholesale  prices  for  the  years  1910  to  1914 
inclusive  as  our  basis,  we  will  find  that  the  average  wholesale  price  at  the 
close  of  the  World  War  in  1918  was  200  per  cent  of  the  base  price.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  there  was  identically  the  same  average  price  at  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War  in  1865,  using  this  same  basis  for  our  computation — 200 
per  cent.  At  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  in  1814,  the  average  wholesale 
price  was  235. 

After  'every  great  war,  as  we  have  previously  stated,  the  forces  of  busi- 
ness and  society  compel  price  declines.  Within  two  years  after  the  War  of 
1812  prices  declined  78  points.  Within  two  years  after  the  Civil  War  prices 
declined  41  points.  But  what  happened  after  the  World'  War?  Instead  of 
prices  going  down  after  the  war  ceased,  prices  went  up.  In  1920,  two  years 
after  the  World  War,  prices  were  50  points  higher  than  they  were  at  the 
close  of  the  war  itself — directly  contrary  to  the  experience  of  all  peoples 
after  all  great  wars.  The  same  occurred  in  other  nations.  There  are  two 
possible  explanations:  First,  this  was  not  a  local  war,  but  one  in  which  all 
the  great  nations  were  involved,  and  yet  we  ask  ourselves:  Did  not  those 
peoples  in  other  nations  go  back  to  work  producing  the  necessities  of  life? 
If  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  had  free  play,  why  was  there  not  an  im- 
mediate decline  in  prices  with  the  falling  off  of  the  demand.? 

A  second  possible  explanation  is  that  labor  and  business  were  better 
organized  after  the  World  War  than  after  the  War  of  1812  or  after  the  Civil 
War.  But  organized  industry  could  not  withstand  the  natural  laws  of 
commerce.  Sooner  or  later  those  prices  had  to  come  down.  From  June  1920 
to  June  1921,  prices  in  the  United  States  on  an  average  declined  100  points. 
This  was  twice  as  great  a  decline  as  ever  occurred  during  any  other  years 
in  the  history  of  the  American  people;  and  during  this  precipitous  decline, 
when  all  American  industry  was  forced  to  participate  in  the  readjustment 
in  business  and  commerce  that  was  in  progress,  the  American  Government  se- 


lected  out  the  railroad  industry  and  made  it  an  exception.  We  told  the  rail- 
roads, while  everybody  has  to  reduce  their  charges,  you  may  increase  your 
charges  by  over  a  billion  dollars. 

One  further  significant  fact  in  this  connection:  The  latest  available 
figures  I  have  indicate  that  the  average  prices  of  farm  products  at  point 
of  origin  are  below  the  pre-war  level.  I  do  not  believe  that  is  true  of  any 
other  great  industry  in  our  country. 

AN    ALARMING    CONDITION. 

Now  let  us  summarize  the  situation  in  one  sentence:  The  record  of  the 
past  year  demonstrates  that  the  strongest,  the  most  powerful  organized  in- 
dustry amongst  our  people  is  the  railroad  industry;  and  the  weakest  is  the 
agricultural  industry. 

That  astounding  fact  must  never  be  forgotten  so  long  as  you  people  shall 
live.  It  is  time  for  agriculture  to  organize  as  never  before.  It  is  time  for 
agriculture  to  tell  the  people  of  this  nation  that  it  proposes  to  organize 
for  self-protection — in  business,  in  commerce,  in  society,  and  in  government. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  that  paper  is  one  of  the  best  addresses 
we  have  ever  had  to  put  in  our  book  of  record  of  this  association.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

We  begin  to  get  some  daylight  on  the  subject  when  he  says  the  farmers 
have  fifty-four  per  cent  of  the  money  on  deposit  in  banks  and  then  when 
they  loan  it  out  they  loan  only  about  four  per  cent  to  farmers. 

Q.    What  are  the  prospects  of  a  further  reduction  in  freight  rates? 

Mr.  MATHENY:  That  is  almost  impossible  to  say.  I  think  it  will  come, 
but  just  how  soon  it  is  hard  to  say.  We  are  doing  the  best  we  can.  The 
matters  are  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  now.  The  railroads 
have  reversed  their  position.  You  see  Section  15-A  of  the  Transportation 
Act  put  upon  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  the  duty,  if  you  please, 
of  seeing  that  the  railroads  get  a  certain  return  on  their  investment.  In 
undertaking  to  do  that  the  rates  will  have  to  go  up  again.  But  the  railroads 
have  reversed  their  position  and  they  did  grant  us  a  ten  per  cent  reduction 
without  having  to  fight  it  out.  As  to  what  can  be  done  in  the  future  only 
the  future  can  tell. 

Q.     The  Railroad  Labor  Board  has  some  effect,  had  it  not? 

Mr.  MATHENY:  The  effect  of  organized  labor  in  the  railroads  had  a 
great  effect  on  this  whole  freight  rate  question.  The  Labor  Board  did  the 
best  it  could.  I  don't  know  just  how  it  could  have  done  better.  It  is  all 
mixed  up  with  politics.  That  is  a  pretty  hard  question  to  answer. 

Q.    Will  there  be  a  continued  rise  in  prices? 

Mr.  MATHENY:  I  am  not  enough  of  an  economist,  sir,  to  answer  that. 
The  law  of  supply  and  demand  is  certainly  in  force,  but  the  prices  certainly 
did  go  up.  Nobody  knows  why.  Perhaps  the  grain  exchanges  and  the  live 
stock  exchanges  could  tell  us,  but  they  won't. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  condition  of  the  equipment,  the  rolling 
stock  of  railroads  now  as  compared  to  the  war  and  prewar  times? 

Mr.  MATHENY:  I  would  rather  not  attempt  to  answer  that.  I  don't 
know  enough  about  it. 

Q.  Well,  some  of  them  say  it  is  worse  now,  but  Director  General  Hines 
and  McAdoo  say  it  is  better  than  when  they  took  it  over. 

Mr.  MATHENY:  If  the  amount  of  money  spent  for  the  repair  and 
maintenance  of  rolling  stock  has  anything  to  do  with  the  condition  of  the 
equipment  it  ought  to  be  a  good  deal  better,  because  they  certainly  spent 
a  good  deal  more  money  than  they  ever  had  before,  but  when  you  consider 
what  organized  labor  did  by  reason  of  its  organization  in  increasing  the 
amount  of  pay,  in  increasing  the  number  of  men  and  in  decreasing  the 
amount  of  work  they  did  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  freight  rates  went  up, 
and  you  fellows  pay  it. 

Q.  The  cutting  off  of  five  hundred  thousand  laborers  cut  down  the 
expenses  a  whole  lot,  didn't  it? 

Mr.  MATHENY:     It  should.     It  does,  undoubtedly. 


123 

Q.  If  the  railroads  are  guaranteed  so  much  Income  on  their  money 
why  should  not  the  farmers  be  guaranteed  the  same? 

Mr.  MATHENY:  That  is  a  question  you  will  have  to  ask  Congress, 
not  me.  How  would  it  be  if  the  government,  with  all  of  its  politics,  under- 
took to  establish  a  board  to  make  a  valuation  of  your  farm,  if  the  govern- 
ment had  accountants  to  determine  what  it  costs  you  to  operate,  and  the 
government  guaranteed  you  four  and  a  half  percent  on  the  money  that 
you  had  invested  in  lands,  machinery  and  property?  Not  so  bad? 

Q.  If  that  applies  to  the  farmers  the  same  as  the  railroads  where 
would  you  get  the  money  to  pay  the  bill? 

Mr.  MATHENY:  I  don't  know.  You  would  hardly  get  it  from  the  rail- 
roads. The  railroads  are  organized,  so  is  the  railroad  labor. 

Q.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  wish  to  ask  any  question,  but  it  seems  to 
me,  as  you  have  said,  that  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  papers  that 
we  have  had,  and  if  we  could  be  permitted  to  have  it  printed  and  send  it 
out  to  our  farmers  it  would  do  some  good.  In  this  audience  there  probably 
isn't  more  than  three  or  four  representatives  of  each  county  in  the  state. 
Down  in  our  county  we  have  had  a  dispute  recently  by  one  of  the  agents 
and  a  representative  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  and  they '  seemed  to 
be  fairly  well  divided  on  that  question.  I  don't  know  what  we  are  going 
to  have  unless  we  can  get  this  thoroughly  before  our  people. 

Mr.  MATHENY:  Mr.  Thorne  and  I  are  lawyers  and  as  lawyers  we 
probably  do  not  bear  as  high  a  reputation  as  some  other  class  of  society, 
but  we  are  really  interested  in  this  movement.  We  want  to  help  the  farmers 
if  we  can.  I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Well,  it  is  true  that  some  lawyers  are  getting 
in  a  little  bad,  but  we  don't  have  that  opinion  of  Mr.  Thorne,  or  Mr.  Matheny 
either. 

When  we  want  to  find  the  last  word  in  any  new  thing  we  go  to  Kanka- 
kee  and  ask  John  Collier.  Now  we  have  been  talking  about  marketing, 
distribution  of  food  and  production  all  day.  We  now  want  to  consider 
some  of  those  things  in  a  more  direct  way,  not  only  for  the  farmer,  but 
for  the  farmer's  wife.  John  has  got  something  started  in  Kankakee  that 
is  going  to  run  over  if  he  isn't  careful.  We  want  him  to  tell  us  about  it. 
Come  up,  John,  and  tell  us  what  you  are  doing  about  it. 

KANKAKEE  COUNTY  FARMERS'  MARKET. 
(John  8.  Collier) 

During  the  economic  depression  of  the  past  year  a  great  many  farmers 
have  found  that  their  only  sources  of  revenue  to  help  keep  up  groceries, 
clothes  and  incidental  expenses  around  the  home  was  derived  from  butter, 
eggs  and  such  other  products  as  they  could,  from  time  to  time,  sell.  They 
soon  discovered  that  the  people  who  were  buying  their  products  in  town 
were  paying  about  twice  as  much  as  the  farmers  were  getting. 

This  Market  was  started  about  two  years  ago  in  a  small  way  but 
was  not  very  successful  because  of  no  organized  body  at  the  head  of  it. 
Last  August,  the  Farm  Bureau  called  a  great  many  of  the  people  together 
that  we  thought  would  be  interested  in  starting  a  Farmers'  Market,  and 
talked  over  the  plan.  The  first,  thing  to  be  done  was  to  give  the  people 
some  idea  as  to  how  to  prepare  their  products  so  as  to  make  a  presentable 
showing.  Candling  of  eggs  was  taken  up,  and  how  to  bring  eggs  on  the 
Market  so  the  consumer  could  buy  them  and  carry  them  home.  A  one-day 
short  course  on  butter  making  was  held  by  a  practical  butter  maker  and 
the  women  from  over  the  county  who  were  making  butter  came  to  this 
school,  and  got  all  the  information  they  could  on  the  ways  to  make  butter. 
These  women  were  then  given  to  understand  that  if  their  butter  was  up 
to  a  certain  standard  they  could  be  advertised  as  makers  of  good  butter. 
A  meat  cutter  was  then  brought  in  to  show  how  to  cut  up  pork  and  tell 
the  value  of  the  different  pieces  of  veal,  mutton  and  beef.  This  was  a 
most  interesting  demonstration  for  the  farmers  as  they  soon  learned  how 


124 


to  present  their  material  in  the  best  possible  way.  Likewise,  how  to  tie 
up  their  vegetables  and  handle  their  fruit  and  make  lard  and  sausage, 
head  cheese,  cottage  cheese  and  mince  meat. 

The  Market  was  opened  in  a  building  145  feet  long  and  40  feet  wide. 
The  first  few  weeks  it  did  not  go  very  rapidly  because  the  consumers  were 
a  little  afraid  if  the  products  were  not  good  there  would  be  no  one  they 
could  hold  responsible,  but  after  a  few  weeks  and  some  advertising  the 
Market  began  to  grow,  and  it  grew  so  rapidly  that  the  building  in  which 
the  Market  is  held  is  too  small  to  accomodate  the  crowds  who  attend  the 


Kankakee    County   Farmers'   Market. 

Saturday  sales.  It  has  been  the  salvation  of  a  great  many  small  farmers 
of  this  community  as  they  have  been  able  to  make  a  little  extra  money  that 
will  tide  them  over  during  the  financial  depression  of  this  period.  They 
have  learned  how  to  market  their  products  and  become  real  salesmen. 

In  case  some  of  the  products  are  not  up  to  standard  there  is  no  ques- 
tion about  the  consumer  being  protected,  as  each  farmer  makes  a  deposit 
with  the  Farm  Bureau  and  this  matter  is  taken  care  of  from  this.  Products 
must  be  clean  and  fresh  and  of  absolutely  first  quality.  The  consumer  has 
learned  that  he  will  be  protected  in  every  way.  Scales  are  tested  each 


126 

morning,  and  a  standard  scale  is  in  the  center  of  the  room  so  each  buyer 
can  himself  test  the  weights.  The  Market  has  won  the  confidence  of  the 
consuming  public  and  the  farmers  aim  to  sell  their  stuff  at  a  little  below 
the  average  retail  price,  ranging  from  30  to  200  percent. 

To  give  some  idea  as  to  how  the  Market  has  grown,  for  the  four 
Saturdays  of  December,  over  1200  People  were  on  the  Market  each  Saturday. 
The  Market  has  established  a  very  good  feeling  between  the  producer  and 
the  consumer  in  the  city.  Occasionally,  of  course,  some  one  thinks  they 
are  being  hit  because  of  the  fact  that  the  farmers  are  marketing  their  own 
products.  These  people  are  very  few,  and  the  big  majority  of  business 
men  of  Kankakee  find  it  is  a  good  thing  for  the  City,  and  it  is  really  help- 
ing business.  The  biggest  problems  we  have  had  to  handle  has  been  to 
keep  the  products  clean  and  sanitary,  and  be  able  to  accomodate  the  crowds 
that  come. 

That  this  thing  is  worth  while  and  can  be  carried  into  every  city  of 
the  state  is  our  belief,  and  we  think  it  is  a  good  thing  for  any  community. 

Q.  What  arrangements  do  you  have  for  determining  who  is  a  mem- 
ber of  that  association,  or  who  is  authorized  to  sell  produce  in  the  market? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  In  answer  to  that  I  just  want  to  read  one  of  our 
cards  in  the  nature  of  an  application: 

FARMERS'  MARKET  PERMIT. 

1.  I,  the  undesigned  Producer,  hereby  agree  to  abide  by  the  rules  and 
regulations  of  the  Farmers'  Market  Committee. 

2.  I  also  agree  to  be  responsible  for  the  purity  of  my  food  and  cleanli- 
ness and  in  case  of  any  violation  of  the  law  will  be  personally  responsible 
for  all  damages.     I  shall  try,  to  the  best  of  my  ability  to  follow  out  the 
law  concerning  Pure  Food. 

NOTE:  No  one  will  be  permitted  to  sell  products  in  the  Market  unless 
they  have  first  obtained  a  permit  from  the  Office  of  the  Soil  and  Crop  Asso- 
ciation, 290  North  Schuyler  Avenue,  Kankakee,  Illinois. 

Signed 

Post  Office 

Date 

Permit    • • 

Now  we  have  had  these  letters  printed,  and  I  will  leave  it  to  you 
whether  they  are  worth  anything  or  not: 

DEAR  CUSTOMERS:  If  you  have  been  patronizing  the  Farmers'  Market 
we  want  to  thank  you  and  hope  that  you  continue  to  come  every  Saturday 
and  every  Wednesday  morning.  If  you  have  not  been  coming  we  take 
this  occasion  to  invite  you  to  the  Market  every  Saturady  and  every  Wed- 
nesday morning  at  9:00  o'clock. 

Our  Farm  Products  are  clean  and  fresh  each  morning  and  from  twenty 
to  one  hundred  per  cent  below  retail  price.  We  will  appreciate  seeing  you 
next  Saturday  morning  at  the  Market.  You  know  if  you  trade  with  us  it 
makes  it  possible  for  us  to  trade  with  you. 

Yours  very  truly, 
Booth  Number 

Q.     I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Collier  if  he  allows  hucksters  on  the  market? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  No,  sir,  we  consider  our  company  too  good.  There 
must  be  a  producer. 

Q.     Do  you  have  any  bad  notes? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  1,11  tell  you  what  we  did.  We  got  hold  of  a  bad  note 
the  other  day  for  $32.50  that  the  man  could  not  pay,  but  we  held  his  life 
insurance  and  we  are  going  to  get  the  money. 

Q.     Are  there  any  butchers  left? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  Yes,  there  are  a  few  left.  They  fight  pretty  hard. 
They  cut  the  prices  on  meat  on  Friday,  Friday  night  they  would  cut  the 
price  down  way  below  what  they  pay  for  it,  but  listen, — we  had  to  get  the 
organized  labor  together,  they  have  about  four  hundred  in  that  town, 
and  talked  to  them  about  it.  They  said,  "We'll  stick  with  you."  And  they 


126 

stuck.  The  butcher  says,  "Well,  that  thing  don't  pay."  So  the  meat  today 
is  about  one  hundred  percent  higher  than  it  was  two  or  three  months  ago. 

Q.     What  do  you  do  with  all  the  meat  that  you  don't  make  sausage  of? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  We  sell  it  to  the  hotels,  and  some  of  it  we  keep  in 
the  refrigerators. 

Q.    Do  you  make  the  whole  hog  into  sausage? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  In  Southern  sausage,  the  whole  hog  is  made  into 
sausage.  There  are  eight  or  nine  ways  of  making  sausage  with  that  plan. 
You  know  you  have  got  to  study  the  market  conditions  sometimes.  We 
did  have  stuff  left  over,  but  as  the  people  learn  the  trade  they  pretty  near 
know  how  to  make  the  market. 

Q.     You  know  how  much  sausage  is  coming  in  every  day,  don't  you? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  No.  Of  course,  once  in  a  while  we  have  some  stuff 
left  over.  If  there  is  any  stuff  left  over  we  take  it  to  the  hotels  and  restau- 
rants at  a  little  loss, — not  loss,  but  a  little  less  than  they  were  sold  for 
.1  the  market.  They  can  afford  to  do  that. 

Q.     Can  you  regulate  the  supply? 

Mr.  COLLIER:     No,  you  can't  do  that. 

Q.     How  far  out  do  your  farmers  bring  their  products  in  to  market? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  Some  of  them  as  far  as  thirty  miles.  We  have  one 
man  that  has  been  feeding  honey  to  the  market  several  weeks.  He  is 
just  about  thirty  miles  away. 

Q.    Do  you  have  men  from  all  parts  of  the  county? 

Mr.  COLLIER:     Yes. 

Q.    How  large  is  the  city  in  which  the  market  is  located  in? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  I  think  our  city  is  about  twenty-two  thousand.  There 
might  be  a  limit.  In  the  small  city  you  could  not  do  it. 

Q.  I  don't  know  whether  you  have  the  same  organization  in  your 
town  that  we  have  in  ours  or  not,  but  we  are  prohibited  from  selling  milk 
that  is  not  pasteurized.  Is  that  lawful? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  No,  sir,  it  isn't.  We  said  we  will  go  on,  we  will  just 
carry  this  to  the  Supreme  Court.  You  know  that  is  a  joke.  You  know  it 
don't  kill  the  germs.  I  don't  need  to  go  into  that  subject  at  all.  It  is  a  joke. 

Q.     Would  a  market  be  good  for  a  town  like  Monmouth? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  I  don't  know  your  conditions  here,  but  I  expect  it 
might  be.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  the  farmers. 

Q.    Is  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  on  very  friendly  terms  with  you? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  Yes,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  on  good  terms 
with  us.  Seven  out  of  twelve  of  those  officers  we  control  and  they  are  on 
friendly  terms  with  us.  In  fact  they  gave  us  a  hundred  dollars  the  other 
day  to  help  us  along.  They  can  understand  that  language. 

Q.     You  have  to  use  a  little  politics. 

Mr.  COLLIER:  That  isn't  politics,  that  is  good  business.  You  see 
the  point. 

Q.     How  do  you  stand  with  the  business  men  around  town? 

Mr.  COLLIER:  I  don't  think  any  of  them  are  knocking  us.  I  think 
most  of  them  feel  pretty  kindly  towards  us  on  this  thing.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  may  hurt  the  butcher  a  little  bit,  and  the  grocer.  Here  is  a  man 
out  here  thirty  miles  away  who  brings  in  eggs,  forty  dollars  worth  of  stuff, 
and  the  chances  are  that  eighty  percent  of  the  money  stays  in  town  before 
he  leaves  town. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  Farmers'  Institute  has  always  believed  in 
co-operating  with  kindred  organizations,  at  least  preserving  the  utmost 
harmony  with  other  farm  associations.  The  president  of  the  Grange  would 
like  to  send  greetings  to  the  Institute,  and  Mr.  Miller  of  Belleville  will 
present  them. 

GREETINGS  FROM  THE  GRANGE. 
(W.  F.  Miller.) 

MB.  CHAIRMAN,  HONORABLE  DELEGATES  AND  OFFICERS:  We  are  not  going 
to  take  very  much  time.  I  just  have  a  little  message  to  bring  to  you  from 
the  State  Master  of  the  Illinois  State  Grange.  He  called  me  up  over  the 


m 

long  distance  phone  and  said  that  he  wished  to  extend  the  courtesies  to  all 
the  officers,  the  delegates  and  the  directors  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute. 

Now,  my  friends,  1  just  want  to  say  a  few  words  to  you  folks.  I  want 
to  give  you  a  little  something  to  think  about.  I  know  that  there  is  not  a 
man  in  this  audience  who  is  not  a  booster  for  his  Farm  Bureau.  But  many 
are  beginning  to  wonder  what  we  are  going  to  do  with  some  of  the  fellows 
whose  three  years  are  up.  Are  we  going  to  get  them  to  sign  again  or  not, 
— that  is  the  question  that  is  confronting  us  today. 

There  are  many  who  have  studied  this  situation  more  thoroughly  than 
others  and  we  can  see  the  improvement  the  Farm  Bureau  has  done,  and  the 
other  different  farm  associations.  I  just  want  to  emphasize  this  fact,  that 
this  farm  bureau  work,  the  U.  S.  Grain  Growers,  and  all  this  co-operative 
work  that  we  are  hearing  so  much  about  is  a  matter  of  education  and  we 
must  look  to  our  young  people  on  the  farms  to  carry  the  work  on.  We  farm- 
ers take  very  good  care  of  our  live  stock,  but  I  must  say  that  we  are  neglect- 
ing one  of  the  most  valuable  and  essential  products  on  our  farm,  and  that 
is  our  growing  boys  and  girls.  [Applause.] 

I  tell  you,  my  friends,  when  the  boy  and  girl  leaves  the  eighth  grade 
school  in  the  country  and  they  are  growing  into  young  womanhood  and 
manhood,  that  is  the  most  essential  time  of  his  or  her  life.  It  is  right  then 
that  he  or  she  is  going  to  begin  to  form  ideas  of  what  they  are  going  to  do 
in  the  future.  If  you  have  some  organization  to  take  the  place  of  their 
school  work  in  which  they  can  carry  on  their  education  you  are  going  to 
get  somewhere  with  those  young  people. 

I  am  speaking  from  experience,  my  friends.  I  am  speaking  with  every 
degree  of  sincerity.  I  have  watched  the  Grange  in  my  own  county.  I  have 
been  a  member  of  the  Turkey  Hill  Grange  since  I  was  sixteen  years  old. 
A  boy  or  girl  can  join  at  fourteen.  Your  farm  bureau  is  all  right,  it  is 
wonderful,  but  I  will  put  this  question  right  before  you:  Does  it  hold  the 
interest  of  the  young  boy  or  girl  on  the  farm?  Does  it  do  that?  It  is  all 
right  for  the  parents. 

Now  remember  this,  my  friends,  it  is  not  only  the  dollars  and  cents 
that  we  get  out  of  life  as  we  go  along.  We  must  have  a  little  fun  as  we 
go  through  life.  If  we  are  going  to  live  in  the  country,  if  we  are  going 
to  ask  our  young  people  to  stay  in  the  country  so  we  can  carry  on  agricul- 
ture, so  we  can  carry  on  these  wonderful  things  that  we  are  trying  to  ac- 
complish we  must  provide  some  entertainment,  we  must  make  things  worth 
while  for  these  young  people,  or  we  can  not  blame  them  for  passing  out  of 
our  lives. 

That  is  where  the  Grange  comes  in.  We  have  in  St.  Clair  county  a  farm 
bureau  with  over  eighteen  hundred  members,  and  of  these  eighteen  hundred 
members  there  are  almost  nine  hundred  members  who  are  Grangers.  I 
wish  to  make  the  statement  right  here  that  the  head  of  every  family  that 
belongs  to  the  farm  bureau,  every  head  of  the  Grange  is  a  member  of  the 
farm  bureau;  and  I  will  also  make  a  statement  on  top  of  that  that  at  the 
expiration  of  the  three  years  these  members  are  going  to  come  right  back 
and  sign  up  for  three  more.  It  is  a  matter  of  education.  That  reminds  me 
of  a  little  story.  Three  or  four  persons  were  carried  before  St.  Peter.  St. 
Peter  looked  down  upon  the  first  and  said,  "My  friend,  what  did  you  do 
down  on  earth  that  you  ask  admittance  here?"  He  threw  out  his  chest  and 
said,  "I  administered  to  the  sick.  I  brought  forth  the  new  born  babe.  I 
was  a  doctor."  The  next  man  came  up  and  was  asked,  "What  did  you  do 
down  on  earth?"  That  man  threw  out  his  chest  and  said,  "I  gave  counsel  to 
my  fellow  man.  I  gave  him  advice  in  times  of  trouble.  I  was  a  lawyer." 
The  next  man  came  up  and  St.  Peter  said,  "What  did  you  do  down  on  earth?" 
And  he  said,  "When  my  country  entered  conflict  with  another  country  I 
went  on  the  field  of  battle  and  I  faced  death  bravely.  I  was  a  soldier." 
And  then  way  out  at  the  end  of  the  line  there  was  a  little  old  woman  came 
forward,  and  St.  Peter  said,  "My  good  woman,  what  did  you  do  down  upon 
earth?"  She  said,  very  timidly,  "It  was  I,  it  was  I  that  made  it  possible 
for  these  men  to  do  the  things  down  on  earth  that  they  did.  I  was  a  school 
teacher."  It  is  a  matter  of  education,  my  friends. 


128 

Now  then,  if  we  are  going  to  live  in  the  country,  if  we  are  going  to  ask 
the  boys  and  girls  to  stay  on  the  farm  let  us  show  them  that  there  is  just 
as  much  fun  to  be  had  in  the  country  in  the  good  old  fashioned  way  as  in 
town.  There  is  lots  of  fun  to  be  had  in  town,  but  I  will  tell  you,  men,  I  am 
a  member  of  a  Grange  of  250  people.  We  are  located  within  three  miles 
and  a  half  of  a  town  of  twenty-five  thousand;  where  we  have  the  best  kind 
of  moving  pictures  and  dances.  We  have  members  who  live  on  the  other 
side  of  the  hill  who  pass  through  the  city  of  Belleville  and  come  out  and 
attend  our  meetings.  Why?  Because  they  know  they  are  going  to  have 
some  good,  wholesome  fun.  We  have  our  community  hall  there  which  has 
steam  heat  and  electric  lights,  we  have  a  stage  where  we  present  little  plays. 
We  have  an  annual  strawberry  festival  that  is  the  talk  of  Belleville.  They 
look  forward  to  it  when  the  bluebirds  begin  to  sing.  They  ask  "When  is 
your  strawberry  festival  going  to  be?"  We  served  475  plates  of  chicken 
supper  last  summer  to  the  residents  surrounding  there.  Everybody  has  a 
good  time.  We  have  lots,  of  fun  on  good  old  Turkey  Hill.  We  believe  in 
the  Grange.  I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  believe  that  such  great  crops  as  we  grow,  as 
wheat,  corn  and  oats,  were  once  weeds,  but  that  don't  mean  that  all  weeds 
have  the  value  that  those  crops  do,  and  the  farmer  has  a  constant  conflict 
with  a  lot  of  weeds,  weeds  that  we  haven't  trained  and  we  don't  want  to 
train  them.  The  purport  of  the  seed  law  is  a  move  internationally  to  help 
the  farmers  get  rid  of  the  weeds.  Mr.  Wilson,  who  is  the  Chief  Seed  Analyst 
under  that  seed  law  is  here  and  I  would  like  to  have  him  explain  the  seed 
law  a  little  bit  to  you.  Mr.  Wilson: 

ILLINOIS  SEED  LAW. 
(Albert  C.  Wilson.) 

MR.  PBESIDENT,  AND  DELEGATES  TO  THE  CONVENTION:  I  am  very  glad  to 
have  this  opportunity  to  explain  the  state  seed  law,  but  I  think  probably  a 
great  many  of  you  fully  understand  it.  There  are  some  points  which  might 
bear  explaining,  and  before  I  start  I  think  I  want  to  say  that  I  was  very 
much  interested  in  the  talk  on  the  Farmers'  Market  given  by  Mr.  Collier 
of  Kankakee.  He  brought  out  the  fact  that  a  great  amount  of  sausage  was 
sold  every  Saturday  and  Wednesday  at  that  market  and  I  was  very  pleased 
to  know  before  he  got  through  that  that  was  pork  sausage,  because  1  heard 
at  one  time  of  a  party  who  was  making  sausage  known  as  rabbit  sausage. 
He  had  a  good  deal  of  sausage  to  sell  and  people  began  to  wonder  why  he 
could  sell  so  much  rabbit  sausage  and  they  asked  if  he  was  using  anything 
else  in  the  sausage.  He  said  yes,  he  was  using  a  little  horse  meat.  Well, 
they  wanted  to  know  how  much  horse  meat.  He  said  fifty-fifty.  "Well, 
what  do  you  mean  by  'fifty-fifty' "?  "Oh,"  he  says,  "one  rabbit  and  one 
horse."  [Laughter.] 

The  seed  law  which  was  adopted  in  1919  was  termed,  as  most  seed  laws 
are  termed,  "Label  Laws",  because  there  are  certain  label  requirements. 
That  is,  we  require  the  seller  of  seed  to  label  it  with  certain  information 
so  that  you  farmers,  or  anyone  buying  that  seed,  will  know  what  the  qual- 
ity of  it  is. 

The  seed  law  in  Illinois  requires  that  it  be  named  with  the  common 
name  and  the  names  of  the  weeds  which  are  present  in  greater  proportion 
than  one  to  five  thousand  of  the  farm  crop  seed.  If  Canada  thistle,  quack 
grass,  dodder,  wild  mustard  or  wild  carrot  are  present  in  greater  propor- 
tion than  one  to  one  thousand  seeds  that  seed  is  not  saleable.  If  buckhorn, 
curled  dock,  field  sorrel,  ox-eye  daisy  or  corn  cockel  are  present  in  greater 
proportion  than  one  to  five  hundred  seeds  the  seed  is  unsalable.  So  when 
you  buy  seed  if  you  see  on  the  tag  the  words  "Curled  dock,  Canada  Thistle" 
or  any  other  weeds,  it  means  that  those  seeds  contain  the  noxious  weeds  in 
a  proportion  not  greater  than  one  to  five  hundred  seeds.  If  it  was  greater 
than  the  law  would  allow  they  could  not  put  a  tag  on  it.  I  am  not  saying 
there  is  no  seed  sold  but  what  is  all  right,  because  we  find  some  now  and 


129 

then  that  is  sold  that  doesn't  come  within  the  law,  but  those  cases  are  very 
few  I  am  glad  to  say. 

Another  thing  the  label  must  show  is  the  percentage  of  other  weed  seeds, 
and  also  the  percentage  of  inert  matter.  The  law  says  all  lots  or  packages 
exceeding  one  pound  in  weight  must  have  a  tag,  and  it  doesn't  say  any  place 
in  the  law  that  the  farmer  is  exempted  from  this  provision.  Therefore, 
when  you  have  seed  to  sell  to  your  neighbor  it  means  that  you  must  tag 
it  the  same  as  the  dealer  does.  Now  that  is  only  right,  that  is  only  fair, 
to  give  that  neighbor  of  yours  the  same  opportunity,  the  same  privilege  that 
he  would  have  in  going  to  the  store  in  town  to  buy  seed. 

You  might  feel  sure  that  your  seed  is  absolutely  clean,  your  neighbor 
may  feel  the  same  about  it,  but  there  might  be  something  in  there  that  you 
did  not  recognize,  and  I  will  say  that  we  get  new  seeds  every  day.  I  was 
in  Monmouth  this  last  Saturday  and  I  got  some  seeds  from  the  Farm  Bureau 
office  that  I  did  not  know.  I  took  them  home  and  examined  them  carefully 
under  the  microscope,  looked  up  the  reference  books  and  I  found  what  it 
was.  It  was  a  seed  that  is  imported,  known  as  corn  flower  or  blue  bottle. 
It  is  best  to  take  advantage  of  the  service  which  is  rendered  free  to  the 
farmer  by  the  State  Seed  Laboratory.  You  can  have  five  samples  analyzed 
In  the  year.  The  year  begins  July  1st  and  ends  June  30th.  This  is  a 
service  that  you  are  helping  to  pay  for  and  you  ought  to  take  advantage  of  it. 
Even  if  you  don't  intend  to  sell  any  seed  have  it  analyzed  so  you  will  know 
whether  you  have  pure  seed  for  your  own  farm  or  not.  Many  farmers  have 
written  in  to  the  office  and  said  how  well  pleased  they  were  with  the  oper- 
ation of  the  seed  law  because  they  had  found  that  their  seed  contained  more 
noxious  weeds  than  they  would  care  to  sow,  and  consequently  they  wanted 
to  get  rid  of  it. 

The  question  comes  up — how  can  you  sell  it,  or  how  can  you  get  rid  of 
it  if  it  is  unclean?  The  law  provides  you  may  sell  it  as  unclean  seed  to  a 
dealer  who  has  proper  facilities  for  recleaning,  or  he  may  sell  it  to  some 
wholesaler  that  has  the  proper  facilities. 

Mr.  Mann  has  referred  to  the  fact  that  one  thing  we  must  bear  in 
mind  in  taking  care  of  the  seed  is  getting  rid  of  the  weed  seeds.  If  we 
are  going  to  accomplish  the  results  we  would  like  to  accomplish  it  means 
the  farmer  will  have  to  change  his  rotations  in  many  cases  so  he  may 
eliminate  the  weeds  and  so  keep  the  product  as  clean  as  possible  to  be 
sold  to  the  dealer  and  to  the  neighbor. 

I  think  probably  I  have  taken  up  the  time,  Mr.  President,  but  if  there 
are  any  questions  I  would  be  glad  to  answer  them. 

Q.    What  months  did  you  say  the  seed  law  applied,  from  July  to  when? 

Mr.  WILSON:     From  July  1st  to  June  30th  the  following  year. 

Q.     That  is  one  season  of  365  days. 

Mr.  WILSON:  The  reason  I  stated  that  was  it  takes  in  the  season 
when  seeds  are  sold.  You  might  think  it  was  the  year  ending  December 
31st.  I  wanted  to  make  it  clear. 

Q.    Does  that  law  apply  to  the  seed  shipped  to  other  states? 

Mr.  WILSON:  We  can't  legislate  against  the  outside.  The  purchaser 
of  seed  in  this  state,  if  he  is  a  dealer,  must  comply  with  the  laws  in  this 
state,  but  if  the  farmer  buys  seed  from  another  state  and  is  willing  to 
accept  it  without  the  analysis,  as  is  required  by  the  Illinois  Seed  Law, 
he  is  taking  the  responsibility  and  the  chances.  Insist  on  it  being  equal  to 
the  Illinois  Seed  Law  when  you  buy  it.  I  thank  you. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  You  know  one  reason  why  it  is  so  hard  to  get 
rid  of  weeds  is  their  rate  of  multiplication.  Oats  will  yield  thirty  to  forty- 
fold,  wheat  forty  to  fifty,  corn  perhaps  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand-fold, 
but  the  weed  plant  yields  a  million  and  half  fold.  A  million  and  a  half 
seeds  from  one  plant,  from  one  seed.  That  is  one  reason  they  are  so  hard 
to  fight. 

Mr.  Wilson's  rabbit  story  puts  me  in  mind  of  one.  A  fellow  was  selling 
a  lot  of  rabbits  and  another  fellow  asked  him  how  he  got  so  many  rabbits. 


130 

He  said,  "I  come  to  town  and  watch  and  when  they  stick  their  heads  in 
the  alley  and  meow  I  shoot  them."     [Laughter.] 

If  there  is  nothing  further  we  will  adjourn.     Don't  forget  we  will  have 
a  band  this  evening  at  seven  o'clock.     Come  early  and  hear  the  music. 


THURSDAY  EVENING  SESSION. 


February  23,  1922,  7:15  o'clock  P.  M. 

Music High  School  Orchestra 

Boys'  and  Girls'  Glee  Club Monmouth  College 

Cornet  Solo Fred   Stanton 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Agriculture  had  a  friend  in  court  without  know- 
ing it  and  at  a  time  when  agriculture  needed  it.  We  have  that  friend  here 
and  I  want  to  introduce  to  you  Hon.  Carl  Vrooman,  formerly  Assistant 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  who  will  now  address  you. 


FEEDING  THE  WORLD. 
(Hon.  Carl  Vrooman.) 

While  out  on  the  farm  one  day  I  came  across  the  son  of  a  tenant  of 
mine  working  in  the  field.  "What  time  do  you  get  to  work  in  the  morning?" 
I  asked.  "About  six  o'clock."  "And  what  time  do  you  knock  off  at  night?" 
About  six  o'clock."  "And  what  do  you  get  for  sweating  all  day  in  the  hot 
sun?"  He  looked  up  astonished.  "Get?"  he  said,  get?  Nothing  if  I  do 
and  hell  if  I  don't." 

I  used  to  say  that  this  boy's  remark  epitomized  the  condition  of  the 
farmer  for  thousands  of  years  preceding  the  advent  of  scientific  agriculture. 

But  today  the  situation  has  changed.  During 
the  past  year  or  two  one  could  lose  money 
faster  farming  than  he  could  loafing.  It  has 
been  a  case  of  "nothing  if  you  don't  and  hell 
if  you  do." 

During  the  war  I  was  proud  to  be  able  to 
tell  how  Amercian  agriculture  had  been  mobil- 
ized to  feed  the  hungry  mouths  of  the  world. 
I  not  only  was  proud  to  be  able  to  tell  that 
story  in  this  country  where  I  had  the  privilege 
of  speaking  to  farmers  and  business  men's 
organizations  in  some  forty-two  states  of  the 
Union,  but  I  was  still  prouder  to  be  able  to 
tell  that  story  in  England  and  in  France. 
They  knew  "over  there"  the  wonderful  story 
of  how  we  had  mobilized  cannon,  fighting  men, 
ships  of  war  and  all  the  other  war  parapher- 
nalia, they  had  heard  how  by  economy  and  self 
denial  the  American  people  under  Mr.  Hoover's 
leadership  had  saved  forty  million  dollars 
worth  of  food,  but  they  had  not  heard  how  by 
toiling  early  and  late,  by  plowing  up  pastures 
and  "mining  the  soil"  the  farmers  of  America 
had  increased  the  nations  food  production,  not 
merely  forty  million  or  four  hundred  million 
but  one  thousand  million  dollars  worth.  Long 
before  we  sent  a  single  battleship  abroad,  long  before  we  sent  a  single 
doughboy  over  there,  we  had  mobilized  six  million  farmers  in  the  fields 


Hon.    Carl  Vrooman 


131 

and  furrows  of  America  to  raise  the  food  that  was  to  feed  not  only  our 
armies  and  the  armies  of  the  Allies  but  also  the  civilian  populations  of 
our  Allies  and  of  the  neutral  nations  as  well.  The  first  colossal  contribution 
we  threw  into  the  scales  of  war  was  food  in  almost  unlimited  quantities, — 
food  that  kept  the  submarine  from  starving  England  into  submission. 

This  is  a  great  story.  I  wish  I  had  as  cheerful  a  one  to  tell  now,  but 
the  story  since  the  signing  of  the  armistice  has  been  of  a  different  kind. 
Our  history  during  the  past  year  and  a  half  is  more  like  a  nightmare  or  a 
delirium  than  anything  else.  It  is  an  incredible  thing  that  this  nation  of 
ours, — the  richest  nation  that  the  world  ever  saw,  with  more  gold  than 
we  know  what  to  do  with,  more  food  than  we  know  what  to  do  with,  more 
coal,  more  iron,  more  copper,  more  of  every  kind  of  wealth  than  we  know 
what  to  do  with  piled  around  us  in  profusion  and  confusion, — for  a  year 
and  a  half  has  been  headed  down  the  hill  of  industrial  bankruptcy. 

How  has  it  happened?  Every  country  in  Europe  has  reasons  for  its 
depressed  condition.  All  of  them  are  short  of  money,  short  of  food,  short 
of  iron,  short  of  coal,  short  of  copper,  short  of  all  the  raw  materials,  cotton 
and  everything  else.  They  have  gigantic,  real,  material  difficulties  that 
stand  like  mountains  in  their  way.  How  has  it  happened  therefore  that 
we  with  no  big  difficulties  except  mental  and  spiritual  ones  have  been  going 
down  hill  financially  and  economically  every  day  since  the  signing  of  the 
armistice,  while  slowly  but  surely  they  have  been  "coming  back?" 

SELFISH   POLICY    CLOSED    MARKETS. 

What  is  the  cause  of  this  extraordinary  situation?  It  required  almost 
an  act  of  genius  on  our  part,  within  a  few  short  months,  to  transform  this 
the  richest  country  the  world  ever  saw  into  a  country  that  for  the  past 
year  has  been  losing  money  faster  than  it  ever  made  or  lost  it  before. 
We  had  but  to  obey  the  dictates  of  common  sense  and  common  decency 
and  a  pahtway  of  prosperity  stretched  out  before  us  like  a  vision  of  enchant- 
ment. But  we  suddenly  decided  to  throw  into  the  scrap  head  the  ideals 
that  had  given  us  driving  power,  and  lifting  power  during  the  war.  We 
wrapped  the  mantle  of  a  purblind  selfishness  around  us.  Like  Pharo  of  old 
we  hardened  our  hearts  and  said,  "the  war  is  over,  from  this  time  on  we 
are  going  to  look  out  for  ourselves.  Let  Europe  take  care  of  itself.  We 
will  sell  them  nothing  on  credit.  If  they  want  anything  let  them  pay  cash." 

Then  what  happened?  The  farmer  was  hit  first.  He  had  the  biggest 
surplus,  and  that  surplus  was  like  a  millstone  around  his  neck,  every  day 
dragging  him  down,  until  the  prices  of  corn  and  other  farm  products  got 
below  even  half  the  cost  of  production.  In  some  of  our  states  prices  went 
below  a  quarter  of  the  cost  of  production. 

I  have  been  working  on  this  problem  during  the  past  year,  almost 
totally  neglecting  my  own  business.  I  have  been  in  Washington  most  of 
the  time.  I  told  some  of  the  business  men  in  the  East,  "You  don't  listen 
now.  You  think  it  is  only  the  farmer  that  is  hit.  But  there  is  a  silver  lining 
to  this  cloud.  We  are  all  tied  together.  If  we  go  down  you  will  go  down, 
you  business  men  in  the  east.  If  we  have  no  money  to  buy  with,  you 
will  not  be  able  to  sell  us  what  you  manufacture.  Although  you  make 
money  faster  than  we  do  when  you  make  it  you  will  lose  it  a  lot  faster 
than  we  do  when  you  begin  to  lose  it.  If  necessary,  we  can  eat  our  corn 
and  our  chickens  and  our  butter  and  our  vegetables.  If  necessary,  we  can 
burn  our  corn,  and  then  practically  the  only  thing  we  have  to  pay  ready 
cash  for  is  coffee,  sugar  and  taxes.  But  you  business  men  have  got  a 
weekly  payroll  that  has  to  be  met  and  it  is  pretty  nearly  as  large  in  times 
of  panic  as  it  is  in  times  of  prosperity.  The  first  thing  you  know  you  will  be 
harder  hit  than  we  are."  I  told  them  that  six  months  ago.  They  were 
polite,  but  unbelieving. 

But  in  Chicago  the  other  day  I  was  talking  with  a  multi-millionaire 
and  he  almost  cried.  He  said,  "I  have  never  known  in  all  my  life  such 
times.  There  was  no  time  during  the  war  when  our  financial  and  economic 
conditions  were  as  bad  as  they  are  now."  And  that  is  true  of  practically 


182 

every  business  enterprise  in  Chicago,  except  the  banks,  and '  if  our  panic 
had  gone  farther,  the  two  banks  that  blew  up  there  the  other  day  probably 
would  have  been  harbingers  of  a  general  collapse.  But  I  think  for  the 
time  being  we  have  warded  off  a  general  smash. 

However,  business  is  still  flat.  The  other  day  I  was  in  the  east.  1 
asked  a  friend,  "How  is  business?"  He  said,  "It  is  going  on  four  flat  tires." 
And  even  he  was  too  optimistic.  I  am  told  that  Julius  Rosenwald  had  to 
throw  between  fifteen  and  eighteen  million  dollars  into  Sears-Roebuck  to 
keep  it  afloat.  That  is  just  one  sample  of  a  process  that  has  been  going 
on  all  over  the  country.  Business  is  just  as  hard  hit,  fellow  farmers,  as 
we  are. 

PROBLEM    OF   SURPLUS   CHOPS. 

What  is  the  cause?  There  are  a  good  many  causes.  Of  course  there 
is  no  one  cause  for  anything.  One  of  the  big  causes  of  our  present  trouble, 
as  you  farmers  know,  is  high  freight  rates.  Another  big  cause  is  a  cumber- 
some and  costly  system  of  marketing  farm  products.  Both  of  those  causes 
are  very  complicated  and  hard  to  remedy.  It  will  take  years  to  work  out 
a  solution  for  either  of  these  problems.  But  there  is  one  problem,  and 
luckily  for  us  it  is  the  one  that  has  caused  the  most  trouble  of  all,  that  is 
comparatively  simple  and  that  can  be  quickly  solved.  That  is  the  problem 
of  the  surplus  crops.  Any  of  you  who  drive  motors  know  that  it  doesn't 
take  much  sand  in  the  gear  box,  nor  much  water  in  the  gas,  nor  much  of  a 
short  circuit  to  put  a  car  out  of  commission.  These  surplus  crops  of  ours 
have  done  just  that  with  our  whole  economic  and  financial  system. 

Roughly  speaking  we  have  less  than  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of  surplus 
agricultural  crops  for  which  there  is  neither  a  domestic  demand  nor  a 
foreign  cash  demand.  That  constitutes  about  five  or  six  percent  of  the  total 
crops  of  the  country.  That  may  sound  to  you  like  a  negligible  quantity. 
A  mere  handful  of  sand  in  the  gear  box  might  sound  like  a  negligible  quan- 
tity too,  but  it  isn't.  Anyhow  this  less  than  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of  sur- 
plus crops,  constituting  perhaps  five  or  six  per  cent  of  our  total  crop,  has 
depressed  the  value  of  the  other  ninety-five  per  cent  of  our  crops,  more  than 
five  times  its  own  value,  or  several  billion  dollars.  Moreover  it  has  injured 
business  to  an  equal  extent.  I  am  speaking  the  literal  truth.  This  is  rather 
an  understatement  than  an  exaggeration. 

Since  this  unsaleable  surplus  has  depressed  the  value  of  the  rest  of  our 
farm  crops  several  billion  dollars'  worth,  evidently  if  we  could  not  sell  it 
for  cash  the  next  best  thing  woud  be  to  sell  it  on  credit,  and  if  we  could  not 
do  that  the  next  best  thing  would  be  to  give  it  away,  and  if  we  could  not 
do  that  it  would  be  a  blessing  of  Almighty  God  to  send  a  bolt  from  heaven 
to  wipe  it  out.  We  would  make  several  hundred  percent  even  on  that  oper- 
ation. 

WHAT  OUR  GIFT  TO  RUSSIA   DID. 

Some  of  you  may  be  saying  to  yourselves,  "That  sounds  very  interest- 
ing, if  true."  Well,  I  am  from  Missouri  myself.  I  was  born  there,  so  I 
have  got  a  few  cards  up  my  sleeve  for  anybody  that  doesn't  know  that  the 
surplus  is  the  controlling  factor  in  determining  prices.  I  have  a  fact  or  two 
that  will  demonstrate  the  accuracy  of  these  statements.  A  few  weaks  ago, 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Representatives  asked 
some  of  us  to  go  before  them  to  speak  in  favor  of  a  proposal  to  have  the 
United  States  Government  make  a  gift  of  food  to  the  famine  sufferers  in  the 
Volga  basin  of  Russia.  The  bill  appropriated  ten  million  dollars  to  be  spent 
for  American  corn  to  be  shipped  to  Russia.  Mr.  Hoover  was  there,  together 
with  Governor  Goodrich  of  Indiana,  who  had  just  been  over  in  Russia,  and 
a  number  of  other  men.  I  went  before  the  Committee  at  the  request  of 
American  Farm  Bureau  Federation.  And  when  we  were  through  with  our 
testimony  they  doubled  the  amount  of  the  appropriation  and  made  it  twenty 
million  dollars.  Then  Mr.  Hoover  got  the  Servian  government  to  give  ten 


133 

million  dollars  to  buy  still  more  food  with.  So  there  was  thirty  million 
dollars  in  all. 

That  money  isn't  all  spent  yet,  but  the  very  day  that  they  began  to  spend 
it,  the  prices  of  corn  and  wheat  began  to  go  up.  The  price  of  oats  did  not 
go  up  for  some  time  because  they  did  not  buy  any  oats.  Since  then  prices 
have  gone  up  still  farther.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  these  purchases  for 
Russia  have  been  the  only  bull  factors. 

There  is  another  important  factor  that  isn't  often  mentioned.  While 
I  was  in  Washington  last  spring  and  summer,  trying  to  get  some  legislation 
that  would  enable  us  to  get  rid  of  some  of  our  surplus  crops  abroad  on  credit, 
Mr.  Eugene  Meyer,  head  of  the  War  Finance  Corporation  bitterly  opposed 
the  plan,  insisting  that  Europe  did  not  need  more  food  than  it  was  then 
buying  for  cash.  I  at  once  went  or  sent  a  representative  to  every  Embassy 
and  Legation  in  Washington  to  get  full  and  accurate  details  as  to  just  how 
much  food  and  other  farm  products  they  needed  from  America.  I  presented 
this  data  to  the  Agricultural  Committee  of  the  Senate  and  it  proved  convinc- 
ing to  them  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  reported  unanimously  in  favor 
of  the  bill.  A  little  later  we  .had  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  United  States 
Senate  in  favor  of  the  bill.  A  little  later  we  got  a  two  to  one  vote  in  the 
House,  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  in  favor  of  the  bill. 

However,  that  did  not  prevent  Mr.  Meyer  and  Mr.  McFadden,  chairman 
of  the  House  Committee  on  Currency  and  Banking,  from  assassinating  the 
bill  just  before  the  recess.  There  was  no  time  to  get  another  vote  on  it  and 
so  the  export  credit  feature  of  the  bill  was  killed.  The  only  thing  that  the 
bill  contained  after  that  was  the  domestic  credit  feature,  which  was  good  as 
far  as  it  went.  That  feature  enabled  the  War  Finance  Corporations  to  loan 
money  to  banks  or  middlemen  or  to  farmers'  organizations. 

MARKETS,    NOT    CREDIT    ALOXE    NEEDED. 

I  said  at  that  time,  and  I  think  farmers  will  agree  with  me,  that  it 
wasn't  credit  the  farmer  needed  primarily,  but  markets.  I  said,  "We  are 
not  paupers,  we  don't  need  to  be  on  anybody's  charity  list.  All  we  want 
is  a  chance  to  sell  the  products  of  our  toil  and  soil,  not  for  a  profit,  but  for 
something  near  cost." 

Last  fall  we  did  not  get  one-third  of  the  production  cost.  I  sold  corn 
last  October  in  Iowa  for  twenty-five  cents  a  bushel.  It  cost  me  more  than 
seventy-five  cents  to  grow  it.  There  was  a  time  in  February  when  I  could 
have  sold  corn  for  September  delivery  for  seventy-four  cents  a  bushel  in 
Chicago,  which  in  Central  Illinois  would  have  netted  me  about  sixty-four 
cents  a  bushel,  and  in  Iowa  about  fifty-four  cents  a  bushel.  But  as  I  had 
credit  I  hung  on  to  the  corn  and  later  sold  it  for  about  half  that  much. 
My  situation  reminded  me  of  the  stranger  who  went  to  the  prayer  meeting. 
Everybody  was  called  on  to  tell  "what  the  Lord  done  for  them,"  and  all  re- 
sponded but  the  stranger,  who  never  spoke  publicly  because  he  stuttered 
and  had  a  hair-lip.  Finally  the  parson  said,  "Brother,  everybody  has  spoken 
but  you.  Won't  you  tell  us  what  the  Lord  has  done  for  you?  He  was  very 
much  embarrassed,  but  quaking  and  blushing,  finally  rose  to  his  feet  and 
stammered,  "He  d-d-dam  near  ruined  me." 

That  is  what  credit  did  for  me  and  for  a  host  of  other  farmers  last  year. 
I  lost  several  thousand  dollars  by  having  credit.  It  was  a  good  thing  how- 
ever that  I  continued  to  have  credit  last  fall,  as  a  consequence  I  sold  very 
little  corn  in  Iowa  for •  twenty-five  cents.  I  have  been  holding  most  of  our 
corn  and  now  I  can  get  about  two-thirds  of  the  cost  of  production  for  it  in- 
stead of  one-third  at  present  prices.  I  am  still  losing  money,  but  I  am  not 
losing  it  as  fast  as  I  did  last  fall. 

After  this  controversy  in  Washington,  Mr.  Wallace  sent  two  men  abroad 
to  study  the  European  situation  and  find  out  what  quantity  of  our  surplus 
farm  products  Europe  could  use.  Their  report  of  course  would  show 
whether  Mr.  Meyer  or  I  was  right.  These  men  went  all  over  Europe  and 
came  back  about  a  month  ago.  Their  figures  showed  that  the  estimates  I 
had  made  were  too  small  rather  than  too  large.  They  gave  the  number  of 


134 

million  tons  of  foods  and  textile  each  country  needed — how  many  million 
tons  France  needed,  how  many  million  tons  Czecho-Slovakia  needed,  how 
many  million  tons  Italy  needed,  how  many  million  tons  Germany  needed, 
how  many  million  tons  Austria  needed,  and  so  on.  That  report  was  a  tre- 
mendous bull  factor  and  it  is  going  to  be  a  permanent  bull  factor.  It  ap- 
peared a  few  days  before  Congress  voted  the  gift  of  twenty  million  dollars' 
worth  of  grain  for  Russian  Relief. 

A  GOOD  BUSINESS  PROPOSITION. 

I  am  trying  to  make  plain  that  I  am  not  attempting  to  infer  that  our 
gift  of  grain  to  Russia  was  the  only  bull  factor,  but  it  clearly  was  the  one 
that  finally  started  the  market  on  the  up  grade.  It  would  be  putting  it  very 
moderately  to  attribute  at  least  5  cents  a  bushel  of  the  rise  in  grain  prices 
to  this  cause.  I  suppose  there  are  about  one  billion  five  hundred  million 
bushels  of  corn  in  the  country  now.  Five  cents  a  bushel  on  a  billion  and  a 
half  bushels  would  be  seventy-five  million  dollars.  By  giving  away  twenty 
million  dollars  worth  of  grain  we  made  a  profit  of  seventy-five  million  dol- 
lars in  a  few  days.  Not  a  bad  business  operation. 

Now  I  am  appealing  to  you  not  as  humanitarians,  I  am  appealing  to 
you  as  business  men.  We  are  supposed  to  be  a  business  nation.  Did  you 
ever  hear  of  anybody  making  money  faster  than  that?  And  can  you  tell  me 
why  we  are  not  now  all  standing  up  on  the  house  tops  and  "hollaring  our 
heads  off"  demanding  that  Uncle  Sam  give  away  more  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  corn — and  still  more,  until  we  have  no  more  surplus  corn  and 
Europe  has  no  more  starving  mouths.  Wouldn't  it  be  good  business,  to  say 
nothing  about  consciences  and  right  and  our  place  in  history? 

When  I  first  went  abroad  during  the  war  there  wasn't  a  nation  over 
there  that  did  not  love  us.  They  looked  upon  us  as  the  saviors  of  civiliza- 
tion. We  had  come  into  the  war  without  a  selfish  purpose;  we  had  come 
into  the  war  just  to  save  human  liberty,  and  they  were  too  grateful  for 
words.  I  would  hate  to  go  over  there  now,  because  I  know  what  they  think 
of  us.  They  think  we  have  forgotten  them;  they  think  we  have  grown 
cold  and  selfish;  that  we  have  become  a  lot  of  money-grabbers, — what  they 
used  to  say  we  were.  They  forgot  it  during  the  war,  but  they  have  had 
cause  to  remember  it  of  late.  While  they  starve  over  there  not  by  the  thou- 
sands, nor  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  but  by  the  millions  we  have  kept 
back  our  food  and  not  because  we  need  it  ourselves.  No!  Our  food  was 
rotting  in  every  state  in  the  middle  west  and  northwest;  and  we  were  burn- 
ing it  for  fuel.  We  would  not  give  them  or  even  sell  them  on  credit  the 
crumbs  that  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table. 

THE  REAL   CAUSE — INTERNATIONAL   BANKERS. 

Can  you  tell  me  why  Mr.  Meyer  and  Mr.  McFadden  stabbed  that  bill  in 
the  back  when  it  was  too  late  to  have  another  vote  of  congress  on  it?  I 
have  asked  myself  a  hundred  times,  "Why  has  this  man  done  this  awful 
thing?  It  is  too  inhuman,  and  besides  it  is  bad  business."  But  one  day 
I  picked  up  a  paper  in  which  was  a  statement  that  a  syndicate  of  interna- 
tional investment  bankers  were  planning  to  loan  a  billion  dol'ars  to  Europe. 
Suddenly,  the  whole  thing  seemed  to  flash  through  my  mind.  Yes,  these 
syndicates,  they  have  been  loaning  money  to  Europe  ever  since  the  signing 
of  the  armistice  and  loaning  it  to  them  not  only  at  a  high  rate  of  interest, 
but  for  big  commissions  as  well. 

If  we  loaned, — as  this  bill  in  Washington  provided,— if  we  exetnded  to 
them  credit  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  billion  dollars'  with  which  to  buy 
our  agricultural  surpluses,  nobody  would  make  any  commissions.  But  if 
these  bankers  could  loan  them  that  much  money  the  bankers  would  make 
at  least  fifty  million  dollars  in  commissions.  Now  do  you  see  any  reason 
why  they  wanted  to  stop  this  law? 

Five  hundred  million  dollars'  worth  of  our  agricultural  surplus  exported 
or  even  one-half  of  that  amount  would  have  pushed  the  price  of  corn  to  at 
least  seventy-five  cents.  It  would  have  rehabilitated  agriculture.  There 


would  have  been  money  rattling  in  all  the  farmers'  pockets,  until  the  farm- 
ers went  to  the  retailers  and  spent  it.  The  retailer  would  then  have  bought 
from  the  wholesaler  and  he  in  turn  from  the  jobber.  The  jobber  would  have 
bought  from  the  manufacturer.  The  railroads  would  have  had  something 
to  carry.  The  bankers  would  have  had  the  load  taken  off  their  shoulders. 
Gradually  prosperity  would  have  come  back  to  the  country.  But  the  inter- 
national banker  did  not  care  so  much  about  that.  He  wanted  his  fifty  mil- 
lion dollars'  commission. 

What  has  Europe  done  with  the  money  it  has  borrowed  from  our  inter- 
national banking  syndicates.  Generally  it  has  gone  to  the  Argentine  and 
bought  Argentine  corn,  cattle,  wheat  and  hogs  while  our  products  have  rotted 
on  the  farms  or  been  burned  for  fuel,  or  been  sold  by  farmers  for  a  quarter 
or  a  third  the  cost  of  production. 

That  is  why  we  are  not  feeding  the  world,  today  as  we  did  during  the 
war.  The  government  told  the  farmer  during  the  war  to  produce  all  he 
could.  We  plowed  up  our  pastures,  some  of  them  pastures  that  we  have 
taken  years  to  create.  We  went  in  to  produce  the  maximum  of  food.  At 
the  time  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  Mr.  Hoover  submitted  a  report,  to 
the  effect  that  the  world  needed  more  food  than  the  world  at  that  time  was 
producing.  Mr.  Hoover  was  right.  The  world  did  need  the  food.  There 
was  a  hungry  mouth  for  every  ounce  of  food  that  we  or  anyone  else  pro- 
duced. But  they  did  not  have  the  cash  to  buy  it  with — and  suddenly  we 
stopped  selling  them  anything  on  credit.  Then  our  unsaleable  surpluses 
began  to  pile  up  and  prices  tumbled  and  business  paralysis  set  in. 

SELL  SUEPLUS  ON  CREDIT,  IF  NECESSARY. 

Now  there  is  just  one  point  that  sometimes  people  don't  get  in  connec- 
tion with  this  subject,  and  that  is  the  difference  between  the  surplus  crop 
and  the  ordinary  crop.  Now  a  surplus  crop,  as  I  have  tried  to  explain,  is 
not  an  asset,  it  is  a  liability.  It  is  like  sand  in  the  gear  box  of  an  auto- 
mobile, or  water  in  the  gas.  If  we  sold  it  to  Europe  and  they  did  not  pay 
us  back  for  all  of  it  we  would  lose  a  few  million  dollars,  but  we  would  still 
be  making  money,  just  as  we  made  money  by  giving  Russia  twenty  million 
dollars  worth  of  grain.  And  yet  international  bankers  like  Mr.  Meyer  get 
up  gravely  and  say,  "But  some  of  these  people  might  not  be  able  to  pay  you 
bshck."  Yet  these  same  bankers  are  willing  to  loan  money  to  these  same 
people.  These  European  countries  have  got  good  security.  They  are  offer- 
ing us  good  security,  and  every  day  our  international  bankers  are  loaning 
them  money  on  that  security. 

I  don't  know  how  it  is  going  to  work  out,  but  I  hope  when  Mr.  Hoover 
stops  buying,  when  he  has  expended  his  thirty  million  dollars,  I  hope  there 
won't  be  any  sag  in  the  price  of  corn.  But  I  fear  there  will  be.  It  won't 
go  back  to  where  it  was,  but  we  have  still  a  good  big  surplus  on  our 
hands,  hundreds  of  millions  of  bushels  surplus,  and  that  is  going  to  be  a 
handicap  to  us  not  only  for  the  rest  of  this  year  but  also  next  year,  in 
spite  of  all  of  our  talk  about  reducing  the  crop.  You  know  when  you  talk 
adout  reducing  the  acreage  there  are  always  a  few  individuals  who  say, 
"Everybody  else  is  going  to  reduce,  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  me  to 
increase  my  acreage,  because  prices  are  going  up."  And  such  Ishmatelites 
will  put  out  twice  as  much  corn  as  usual. 

If  we  could  get  rid  of  a  reasonable  part  of  this  surplus  abroad  on 
credit,  we  could  raise  prices  to  normal.  Then  this  country  would  find 
itself  once  more  on  the  highway  to  prosperity.  Moreover  we  would  gain 
back  some  of  the  affection  and  admiration  which  Europe  had  for  us  during 
the  war,  and  I  for  one  am  not  entirely  oblivious  to  such  consideration. 

I  like  to  feel  that  the  America  we  love,  that  the  potential  America  is 
the  America  that  we  see  in  action.  You  remember  those  words  of  Kipling 
about  England. 

"If  England  was  what  England  seems, 
A  thing  of  putty,  brass  and  paint 
And  not  the  England  of  our  dreams, 

How  quick  we'd  chuck  her,  but  she  ain't." 


136 

That  could  apply  to  America  today.  We  are  in  a  moral  slump  and 
that  moral  slump  is  the  basis  of  our  economic  slump.  When  we  get 
right  morally  and  take  our  true  place  and  assume  our  responsibilities 
towards  the  other  nations  of  the  world,  we  will  begin  to  come  up  again 
in  an  economic  way.  We  have  all  been  struck  with  amazement  at  the 
splendid  results  obtained  from  one  step  in  that  direction —  this  gift  of 
twenty  million  dollars  to  Russia  that  already  has  started  the  price  of 
corn  and  other  agricultural  products  going  up.  Why  not  take  some  more 
steps?  It  is  time  for  us  to  sound  a  new  note.  It  is  time  for  us  to  say — 
the  spirit  that  denominated  this  country  during  the  war  and  made  us  not 
only  the  material  leader  but  the  spritual  leader  of  the  world,  must  come 
back. 

Our  ambassador  to  France,  Myron  Herrick,  in  a  recent  issue  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune  made  an  excellent  statement  on  that  very  point.  Do  not 
say  "Out  here  in  Monmouth,  out  here  in  Illinois  we  haven't  much  influence 
in  the  world."  We  have  an  influence  on  the  world.  Not  only  the  words  we 
utter  but  the  thoughts  we  think  have  an  influence  in  the  world.  You  know 
how  confused  and  upset  mentally  the  world  has  been  ever  since  the  war 
was  over.  Hardly  any  class  of  our  population  has  been  normal,  either  in 
action  or  in  thoughts,  and  thought  comes  before  action.  If  we  get  right 
mentally  we  will  get  right  otherwise. 

FOREIGN  MARKETS  MEAN  PROSPERITY. 

The  only  obstacles  America  has  today  are  mental  and  spiritual  ones. 
As  I  said  at  the  start,  we  are  surrounded  at  every  side  by  more  of  wealth 
not  only  than  any  nation  ever  saw,  but  than  we  know  what  to  do  with. 
I  hear  men  gravely  saying,  "If  you  sell  this  food  to  Europe  what  would 
you  get  for  it?  We  don't  want  any  more  gold,  we  don't  want  any  other 
manufactured  products,  to  compete  with  the  products  of  our  factories." 
Some  of  our  so  called  leaders  talk  as  though  we  all  had  softening  of  the 
brain.  Better  have  a  little  softening  of  the  heart  and  a  little  clarifying  of 
the  brain.  If  we  would  do  that  our  material  difficulties  would  take  wings 
and  speedily  fly  away.  We  have  every  material  advantage  in  the  world. 
We  are  the  only  nation  in  that  favored  condition.  And  I  sometimes  fancy 
that  over  in  Europe,  when  they  see  us  rolling  in  plenty  while  they  starve, 
that  they  must  think  that  to  call  us  a  dog  in  the  manger  would  be  to 
flatter  us.  I  have  sometimes  feared  that  a  sight  I  once  saw  on  the  farm 
would  be  the  picture  they  might  select  as  being  more  nearly  typical  of 
us.  I  saw  an  old  sow  go  up  to  a  trough,  eat  all  she  could  and  then  climb 
in  and  lie  down,  so  that  none  of  the  rest  of  them  could  get  anything. 

But  I  don't  think  that  is  going  to  be  what  they  will  say  about  us  now, 
for  I  hope  and  trust  that  we  have  started  on  a  new  track.  We  have  actually 
given  away  twenty  million  dollars  worth  of  stuff  that  we  bad  no  use  for. 
It  doesn't  sound  very  magnificient;  it  doesn't  sound  very  heroic;  it  doesn't 
sound  very  generous,  but  it  is  an  improvement  on  anything  we  had  been 
doing  for  some  time  previously.  It  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  I 
believe  we  are  going  to  show  enough  intelligence  to  sell  on  credit  such  of 
our  surpluses  as  cannot  be  sold  for  cash.  And  if  we  find  any  nation 
actually  starving  that  is  unable  to  give  us  good  security  I  believe  we  will 
have  enough  decency  and  business  foresight  to  give  them  what  they  need 
and  we  have  no  possible  use  for. 

Now  let  us,  the  plain,  common  people  of  this  country,  the  sovereigns 
of  this  country  insist  upon  this  policy — let  us  talk  it,  let  us  think  it,  let  us 
feel  it.  There  is  a  power  in  feeling  that  is  greater  than  any  power  in 
matter.  We  can  start  currents  of  emotion  and  currents  of  thought  that 
will  roll  up  tidal  waves  until  they  reach  Washington  and  from  Washington 
they  will  roll  out  to  bless  the  world. 

Our  task  of  feeding  the  world  was  not  finished  when  the  armistice 
was  signed.  There  is  an  inglorious  period  between  that  time  and  the 
present.  But  I  believe  that  the  America  that  we  believe  in  is  going  to 
take  a  new  inspiration  from  this  hour — that  we  are  going  to  gird  our  loins 


137 

and  go  forth  and  assume  again  our  rightful  place,  our  full  responsibility 
among  the  nations  of  the  world.  At  any  rate  there  is  only  one  thing  that 
you  and  I  can  do,  and  that  is  to  do  our  utmost  trying  to  create  a  public 
opinion  in  favor  of  such  a  policy.  Before  God,  before  the  world,  before 
posterity,  can  we  do  less? 
Vocal  Duet Doris  and  Dorothy  Sites 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  again  present  to  you  Dr. 
Wilson  who  has  been  president  the  past  year  of  the  Department  of  House- 
hold Science  and  who  was  reelected  president  this  afternoon. 

Dr.  WILSON:  We  are  going  to  share  with  you  two  of  our  speakers 
whom  we  know  you  want  to  hear.  They  only  have  a  short  time  apiece, 
but  they  have  a  message.  I  can  only  tell  you  one  thing  that  I  think  will 
be  worth  while,  because  I  do  not  want  to  take  their  time,  but  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  any  woman  who  can  get  a  telephone  message  at  nine 
o'clock,  take  a  train  for  two.  hundred  miles  and  ride  seven  miles  by  horse 
and  buggy  and  then  say  "I'm  here,  what  do  you  want  me  to  do"  is  someone 
who  has  that  pep  and  push  which  goes  with  efficiency. 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  presenting  to  you  Mrs.  Grace  Viall  Gray  who 
is  going  to  talk  on  "The  Home  Maker's  Ten  Commandments." 


THE  HOME-MAKER'S  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 
(Mrs.  Grace  Viall  Gray.) 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  That  is  a  wonderful  introduction,  isn't  it? 
But  really  Dr.  Wilson  isn't  that  nice  to  me  personally.  She  is  nice  to  me 
in  public,  but  when  she  tried  to  entice  me  to  talk  tonight  I  said,  "How  long 

may  I  talk?"  She  said,  "As  long  as  you 
wish."  Then  later  she  sent  a  committee  in 
the  afternoon  and  said,  "You  had  better  talk 
only  twenty-five  minutes."  Later  in  the  after- 
noon another  committee  waited  upon  me  and 
said,  "You  had  only  better  talk  twenty 
minutes."  Tonignt  as  I  came  in  the  door  Dr. 
Wilson  met  me  and  said,  "You  know,  I  think 
you  better  Just  talk  fifteen  minutes."  That 
is  the  way  she  treats  me  in  private.  [Laugh- 
ter.] 

We  speakers  are  treated  in  very  peculiar 
ways.  Recently  at  a  meeting,  Just  as  the 
gentleman  speaker  and  I  were  leaving,  the 
chairman  of  the  meeting  said,  "We  have  many 
things  to  be  grateful  for.  We  are  very  grate- 
ful to  these  afternoon  speakers  who  have  to 
leave  before  the  evening  meeting."  [Laugh- 
ter.] Those  are  the  kind  of  things  that  we 
speakers  get  and  still  we  have  to  smile  and 
pretend  we  like  it. 

Now  for  the  first  commandment  that  I  have 
laid  down  for  the  home  maker  in  Illinois  is 
this: 


Mrs.  Grace  Viall  Oray 


"THOU   SHALT   KEEP  THT    HEALTH." 


No    woman    can    enjoy    her   home    and    her 
children    if   she    does   not   enjoy   good    health. 

She  may  have  an  automobile,  she  may  have  a  beautiful  home,  she  may 
have  lovely  children,  she  may  have  a  good  social  position  in  the  community, 
but  if  she  does  not  have  her  health  then  she  cannot  enjoy  those  things 
and  she  is  poor  indeed.  So  that  is  the  first  commandment  and  the  first 
thing  that  every  woman  in  Illinois  should  see  to,  that  she  has  good  health. 
If  she  hasn't  it  at  present,  get  it  and  keep  it,  I  am  sure  'our  wonderful 
president  will  agree  with  me  on  that. 


1M 

Th«  a»cond  •ommandment  is  this: 

"THOU  SHALT  NOT  NAG." 

I  am  surprised  that  the  clapping  was  done  by  the  gentlemen.  [Ap- 
plause.] Nagging  is  a  hahit  that  is  formed  by  both  men  and  women.  It 
is  an  unconscious  habit,  perhaps,  but  it  goes  on  and  gets  larger  and  greater, 
and  there  is  no  one  that  is  more  unfortunate  than  the  one  who  has  formed 
this  habit  of  nagging. 

The  third  commandment  is: 

"THOU    SHALT   NOT   WOEEY." 

Both  men  and  women  worry,  but  particularly  the  woman  is  more  apt 
to  worry  about  the  financial  affairs  and  other  affairs  concerning  the  home 
than  the  man.  You  know  that  worry  grows  and  grows.  You  can  worry 
harder  on  the  third  day  than  you  could  on  the  first.  It  does  not  pay  to 
worry. 

The  fourth  commandment  is  this: 

"THOTT  SHALT  KNOW  FOOD  VALUES." 

Every  woman  today  should  know  how  to  feed  her  family  scientifically 
and  right.  The  woman  who  does  not  know  food  values  may  be  sure  that 
the  handwriting  upon  her  wall  reads:  "Weighed  in  the  balance  and  found 
wanting."  Every  woman  today  can  get  much  information  from  the  state 
university,  from  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  and  from 
women's  magazines,  so  she  should  know  all  that  there  is  to  know  today 
about  foods.  You  cannot  be  today  like  the  woman  in  the  settlement  who 
told  me,  after  a  long  demonstration,  where  I  had  thought  I  had  driven 
my  point  home  very  carfully  and  accurately  and  had  convinced  the  people 
about  the  right  kind  of  foods  to  eat,  "Oh,  it  is  all  right  for  you  food 
specialists  to  come  here  in  the  settlements  and  try  to  teach  us  to  eat 
what  we  should  eat,  but  you  know  I  would  ruther  eat  what  I  would  ruther." 
[Laughter.] 

People  have  peculiar  ideas  about  food.  In  this  town  there  is  a  man  that 
has  a  peculiar  idea  about  food,  because  I  asked  him  this  year  if  he  had 
put  up  as  much  sauer  kraut  as  last  year.  He  said,  "No,  we  didn't  put 
up  very  much  this  year.  We  only  have  two  barrels  in  the  basement  in 
case  of  illness  in  the  family."  [Laughter.] 

That  was  his  idea  of  a  good  food  for  the  sick,  and  there  are  many 
women  who  have  just  the  same  idea  about  food.  No  woman  can  afford  to 
be  careless  about  food,  because  the  mental  and  spiritual  lives  in  her  home 
depend  upon  the  food  that  the  family  eat  three  times  a  day.  Food  is 
changing.  Food  ideas  are  changing.  Food  standards  are  changing.  Take 
for  instance  this  new  thing  that  we  have  been  reading  about  in  all  the 
magazines  and  that  we  hear  about  from  the  platform,  the  vitamines 
that  are  found  in  foods.  It  was  my  great  pleasure  a  few  months  ago  to 
have  a  long  talk  with  Dr.  Funk,  the  man  who  isolated  and  named  vitamines. 
It  is  not  Mr.  McCullom,  as  so  many  think.  Dr.  Funk  is  the  man  who  did 
the  original  work  and  Dr.  McCullom  finished  and  carried  it  on.  Dr.  Funk 
said,  "We  did  not  know  very  much  about  these  mysterious  vitamines. 
They  have  always  existed  in  foods,  but  we  did  not  know  they  were  there. 
Now  we  know  they  are  there,  and  if  the  home  maker  will  see  that  her 
family  every  day  gets  a  dairy  product,  a  fresh  fruit,  and  a  fresh  vegetable, 
they  will  get  the  vitamines  whether  they  want  them  or  not."  So  it  comes 
down  to  just  a  balanced  ration  for  the  family,  the  same  as  a  balanced 
ration  for  the  cattle. 

.  Dr.  Funk  has  a  boy  six  years  old  and  they  call  this  boy  the  Vitamine 
Baby.  Ever  since  the  boy  was  born  he  has  had  a  tablespoon  of  cod  liver 
oil  every  day  of  his  life,  because  Dr.  Funk  says  that  there  are  more  vita- 
mines  in  cod  liver  oil  than  in  anything  else  in  the  world,  and  this  child 
has  grown  to  like  cod  liver  oil.  He  goes  to  his  mother  before  every  meal. 


139 

opens  his  mouth  and  takes  a  teaspoon  of  cod  liver  oil  before  he  takes  his 
meal,  and  he  does  not  have  colds.  Dr.  Funk  says  that  if  the  mothers 
wish  to  keep  the  children  from  having  colds  in  the  winter  months  to  give 
them  cod  liver  oil  and  they  will  thrive  on  it. 

We  say,  "Very  well,  we  can  give  fruits  and  vegetables  in  the  summer 
time,  but  how  about  the  winter  time?"  There  is  a  great  tendency  towards 
meat,  potatoes  and  pie  in  the  winter  time.  The  only  way  that  you  can  have 
the  vegetables  and  fruits  in  the  winter  time,  if  you  have  not  access  to  good 
markets,  is  to  store  them,  dry  them  or  can  them.  The  most  popular  of  all 
is  the  canning, — and  now  I  have  started  on  one  of  my  hobbies.  Tonight 
I  overheard  a  woman  say,  "I  wonder  what  Mrs.  Gray  is  going  to  talk  about?" 
and  the  other  woman  said,  "Canning.  That  is  all  she  knows."  [Laughter.] 
So  I  will  talk  a  little  on  canning,  for  evidently  that  is  something  that  I 
should  know  about. 

Canning  is  a  wonderful  thing  and  we  should  do  more  than  we  do.  One 
man  tonight  said,  "I  wish  you  would  talk  about  canning,  because  I. think 
my  wife  ought  to  can  more  than  she  does."  That  is  the  only  way  you 
will  get  a  big  variety  in  the  winter  time.  We  can  can  fruits,  all  kinds  of 
vegetables,  and  all  kinds  of  greens.  We  can  a  good  deal  in  the  summer 
time  for  that  is  when  those  things  are  in  season,  but  not  only  do  we  need 
to  can  fruit  and  vegetables  but  we  can  go  into  the  animal  kingdom.  There 
are  women  now  who  are  canning  meat,  and  they  would  rather  preserve 
meat  in  cans  than  in  any  other  form  of  preservation.  Canned  meat  is 
delicious.  We  should  get  into  the  habit  of  preserving  our  meat  by  putting 
it  into  cans,  either  glass  jars  or  tin  cans. 

At  Arthur,  Illinois,  there  is  a  very  interesting  family.  Some  of  you 
know  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seass.  Mr.  Seass  used  to  be  on  the  State  Institute 
platform.  They  turned  an  old  building  into  a  cannery  and  there  they  can 
everything  that  grows  on  the  farm.  Not  long  ago  Mrs.  Seass  was  telling 
a  Chicago  woman  that  they  had  just  finished  canning  a  whole  beef.  The 
woman  was  very  much  surprised,  she  was  amazed.  She  thought  a  while, 
then  she  said,  Mrs.  Seass,  did  you  say  you  canned  a  whole  beef?"  Mrs 
Seass  said,  "Yes,  we  finished  it  last  week."  The  woman  said,  "Well,  I  sup- 
pose I  shall  have  to  believe  you,  but  where  in  the  world  did  you  get  a  can 
large  enough  for  a  whole  beef?"  [Laughter.] 

The  other  day  a  woman  that  many  of  you  know  in  Illinois  told  me  that 
she  had  made  more  money  from  her  canning  last  year  than  her  husband  did 
from  any  other  part  of  the  farm,  and  he  has  a  very  large  farm.  She  has 
turned  it  into  a  paying  proposition.  Therefore,  ladies,  it  is  a  thing  that 
is  worthy  of  consideration.  You  can  make  money  by  canning.  Anyone  is 
glad  to  buy  home  canned  products  and  pay  a  good  price  for  them. 

There  are  many  other  things  that  can  be  said  about  canning,  and  this 
is  just  a  little  suggestion  I  want  to  leave  with  you  to  think  about  the  possi- 
bilities in  this  canning  field.  I  want  to  tell  you  about  the  man  in  Chicago 
who  was  clever  enough  to  realize  a  possibility  along  that  line.  He  saw 
every  Saturday  these  hundreds  of  chicken  feet  being  thrown  away  by  the 
butcher,  so  he  said  to  this  butcher,  "Will  you  save  me  all  the  chicken  feet 
that  you  have  left  from  the  Saturday's  chicken  sales?"  And  the  butcher 
consented  to  save  all  the  chicken  feet.  The  man  steamed  them  so  the  skin 
could  be  easily  removed,  and  he  found  after  cooking  them  he  had  a  lovely 
gelatine  soup.  To  this  he  adds  rice,  and  it  is  now  on  the  market  as  home 
canned  soup,  and  he  is  making  money,  and  he  says  he  never  made  money 
so  easily  in  his  life. 

The  next  commandment  is, 

"THOU  SHALT   HAVE  LABOR-SAVING  DEVICES." 

We  cannot  dwell  on  all  the  different  labor  saving  devices,  only  to  say  to 
the  men  that  they  should  see  to  it  that  the  women  have  just  as  convenient 
tools  in  their  homes  as  they  have  in  their  work  in  the  fields,  or  whatever 
profession  they  are  engaged  in/  The  labor  saving  devices  save  time,  save 
money  and  save  fuel.  There  are  many  of  them  and  every  woman  is  justi- 
fied in  having  them. 


140 
The  sixth  commandment  is: 

"THOU  SHALT  NOT  CLEAN  AND  DUST  ALL  THE  TIME." 

So  many  women  are  cleaning  and  dusting  all  the  time  that  their  house 
is  never  clean.  It  dbesnt  pay  to  do  that.  You  can  have  a  very  comfortab'e 
and  lovable  home  which  is  much  nicer  to  live  in  than  an  immaculate  home 
where  there  is  never  any  dust.  If  it  is  a  choice  of  doing  the  dusting  and 
cleaning  or  going  on  a  trip  with  your  husband  and  children,  why,  do  the 
latter,  by  all  means. 

The  seventh  commandment  is: 

"THOU    SHALT   LOVE    THY    HUSBAND    AND    CHILDREN    MORE    THAN    THY 
HOUSEHOLD    FURNISHINGS." 

A  great  many  women  idolize  chairs,  davenports,  doilies  and  what  not, 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  woman  and  husband  do  not  enjoy  the  home  as 
they  should.  Just  remember  that  the  furniture  is  a  material  and  can  be 
replaced, — the  husband  and  children  cannot.  Let  us  have  more  parties, 
more  candy  pulls,  more  fun  in  the  home.  Let  the  social  life  be  in  the  home 
rather  than  in  doubtful,  questionable  places. 

The  eighth  commandment  is  this,  and  applies  to  the  women: 

"THOU  SHALT  HAVE  THY  OWN  CHECK  BOOK." 

It  is  the  women  who  are  clapping  now.  Every  woman  should  have 
either  her  own  allowance,  her  own  checking  account  or  a  mutual  checking 
system,  because  she  has  earned  the  money  in  that  home  the  same  as  the  man 
who  has  labored  in  the  fields,  or  the  doctor  or  the  lawyer.  Therefore  she 
should  have  access  fco  this  mutual  money  that  has  been  earned  in  the  home. 
We  should  train  our  girls  in  business  ability  so  that  when  they  are  married 
they  will  be  able  to  manage  this  check  book  and  will  not  be  like  the  woman 
who  was  very  indignant  when  she  received  a  notice  from  the  bank  that  she 
had  overdrawn.  She  went  to  the  bank  very  haughty,  threw  down  her  check 
book  and  said,  "This  is  a  mistake  because  you  can  see  how  many  checks  I 
still  have  in  this  book."  [Laughter.] 

The  ninth  commandment  reads: 

"THOU  SHALT  HAVE  A  HOBBY." 

Everyone  should  have  something  they  are  interested  in  outside  of  the 
daily  routine.  It  may  be  canning, — that  is  a  lovely  hobby;  it  may  be  clr'cken 
raising,  it  may  be  bee  keeping,  it  may  be  golfing,  it  may  be  many  things. 
Something  that  you  like  to  do  and  it  takes  you,  as  I  say,  out  of  the  daily 
routine.  A  woman  can  run  a  home,  and  run  it  efficiently,  and  still  have 
time  for  a  hobby.  A  woman  can  do  many  things,  as  we  proved  to  you  dur- 
ing the  war.  Some  of  the  directors  of  this  institute  have  to  be  educated 
along  that  line.  I  was  in  the  town  of  one  of  your  directors  and  I  was  going 
to  talk  on  the  subject  "Woman's  Sphere",  and  this  is  the  way  he  introduced 
me:  "Mrs.  Gray  will  now  talk  on  'Woman's  Sphere,  or  the  Kitchen.' " 
[Laughter.]  I  got  up  and  I  said  that  I  was  surpri?ed  that  he  would  make 
such  a  remark,  because  he*  had  such  an  intelligent  wife.  But  he  is  educated 
now  and  I  am  sure  he  will  never  make  that  mistake  a?ain,  because  a  woman 
can  run  the  home  and  have  this  hobby  besides.  She  can  be  like  the  man 
who  was  a  poet  and  went  farming  much  against  the  advice  of  his  friends. 
They  said,  "You  can't  run  a  farm,  you  are  only  a  poet.  You  will  be  a  fail- 
ure as  a  farmer."  The  first  Christmas  he  pent  his  friends  some  lovely  pork 
and  also  some  beautiful  lines  of  poetry.  This  is  what  he  said:  "Accept 
these  products  from  my  pens.  I  can  wield  two  kinds  of  pens,  a  pig  pen  and 
a  literary  pen."  So  we  women  can  do  more  than  one  thing.  We  can  man- 
age a  home  and  ride  a  hobby  at  the  same  time. 


141 

The  tenth  commandment, — and  now  I  know  who  Is  going  to  clap, — is 
this: 

"THOU   SHALT   NOT  DRIVE  THE  AUTO  FROM   THE  BACK   SEAT." 

In  our  institute  work  we  often  have  to  take  long  drives,  such  as  Dr. 
Wilson  told  you,  and  we  usually  ride  in  the  back  seat  with  the  hostess.  The 
host  drives  the  auto  and  he  is  constantly  told  from  the  back  seat  that  there 
is  a  load  of  hay  coming,  that  there  is  a  curve  to  the  right,  that  there  is  a 
ditch  to  the  left,  that  somebody  is  trying  to  get  by  the  auto,  and  the  whole 
lovely  trip  is  spoiled  because  the  woman  in  the  back  seat  insists  upon  driv- 
ing that  car.  If  she  would  only  be  quiet  and  tell  me  about  the  lovely  scen- 
ery, about  who  owns  this  farm  or  that  farm,  we  would  enjoy  the  ride  very 
much  more.  It  is  a  lack  of  self-control,  and  I  want  to  urge  the  women  of 
this  state  to  learn  to  control  themselves  so  that  they  will  not  drive  the  auto 
from  the  back  seat. 

There  was  a  young  man  who  was  starting  out  to  talk  and  he  went  to  his 
uncle  for  advice.  He  said,  "You  are  a  great  speaker,  Uncle,  I  wish  you 
would  give  me  the  rules  that  you  follow  to  make  you  the  successful  speaker 
that  you  are."  The  uncle  said,  "There  are  only  three  rules  to  follow.  The 
first  one  is  this:  if  you  have  anything  to  say  stand  up  so  people  can  see 
you;  second,  talk  up  so  they  can  hear  ypu,  and  the  third  and  most  import- 
ant one  of  all  is  to  shut  up  so  that  they  will  like  you."  [Laughter  ] 

And  that  is  what  I  am  going  to  do  now.    I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 
Vocal  duet Doris  and  Dorothy  Sites 

Dr.  WILSON:  It  isn't  very  many  years  since  you  took  our  boys  and 
girls  away  from  us  and  put  them  out  into  the  little  red  school.  The  time 
has  come  when  we  realize  you  have  done  the  best  you  could  as  men  and  that 
you  need  some  help  in  reorganizing  the  little  red  school.  We  have  responded 
to  the  request  from  a  number  of  people  that  Mrs.  H.  M.  Dunlap,  who 
has  made  such  a  serious  study  of  this  matter,  might  bring  to  you  the 
message  which  she  brought  to  us  this  week.  We  have  been  asked  for  it  a 
number  of  times.  We  feel  you  ought  to  have  it,  and  we  are  glad  to  have 
the  time  and  Mrs.  Dunlap  with  us  to  give  it  to  you. 

OUR    RURAL    SCHOOLS. 
(Mrs.  H.  M.  Dunlap.) 

During  most  of  my  life  I  have  been  connected,  more  or  less,  with  the 
rural  school.  I  attended  the  rural  school.  I  taught  in  the  rural  school,  and 
I  taught  in  the  rural  school  three  years  after  I  was  married.  I  sent  my 
little  girl  to  the  rural  school,  and  I  have  been  a  director  in  the  rural  school 
for  twenty  years,  and  I  believe  I  know  something  of  the  life  in  the  rural 
school;  and  today  the  rural  school  is  one  of  the  greatest  problems  that 
America  has  to  solve.  But  she  is  beginning  the  solution  of  it. 

James  Tigert,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  in  his  annual 
report  says:  "More  than  two-thirds  of  American  schools  are  rural  schools, 
and  they  are  the  most  unsatisfactory  part  of  the  public  school  system." 
He  says:  "We  have  an  educational  crisis  in  the  number  of  our  people  who 
cannot  read  and  write  nor  appreciate  the  principles  and  ideals  of  our  gov- 
ernment." He  also  says:  "The  greater  part  of  native  American  illiteracy 
is  in  rural  regions." 

The  last  census  gives  the  total  number  of  persons  of  school  age,  be- 
tween 5  and  20  years  of  age,  to  be  33,250,870,  with  21.373,976  in  school.  Over 
one-third  of  those  that  should  be  in  school  are  not  there. 

Something  has  been  lacking  in  the  nation's  educational  outlook  when 
it  has  permitted  for  so  long  a  time  a  community  and  state  indifference  to 
the  education  of  their  people  for  self-supporting,  intelligent  and  efficient 
citizenship.  Perhaps  the  nation  has  been  wise  in  the  past  in  not  extending 
its  interest  to  the  education  of  its  citizens  through  the  states,  as  already, 
when  it  does  see  a  greater  need  for  its  interest  in  the  national  education,  by 


142 


Some  it  has  been  deemed  unconstitutional  in  its  efforts  and  plans.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  let  nothing  deter  the  nation  and  the  states  from  approaching  the 

present  day  educational  outlook  with  great 
freedom  of  thought  and  the  true  spirit  of  co- 
operation for  the  best  for  all  those  concerned, 
that  ignorance  may  be  overcome  and  every 
citizen  may  have  and  be  required  to  obtain 
that  education  which  will  fit  him  to  meet  life's 
requirements  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner 
to  himself  and  those  depending  upon  him. 

Usually  I  am  proud  to  be  a  citizen  of  Illi- 
nois. Again,  I  wish  I  could  belong  to  Iowa, 
Indiana,  Ohio,  Minnesota,  or  some  other  of  our 
states  that  have  had  a  practiced  and  more  de- 
sirable attitude  towards  its  rural  schools.  The 
Illinoian,  when  he  becomes  informed  as  to  our 
position  in  regard  to  our  rural  schools,  should 
be  disappointed  and  full  of  chagrin.  If  he  is 
not,  he  needs  some  kind  of  a  bomb  exploded 
under  him  to  awaken  him  from  his  ignorance 
and  lethargy. 

Lately  I  have  been  reading  of  what  has 
been  accomplished  by  other  states,  and  my  full 
sympathy  is  extended  to  the  rural  boys  and 

girls  of  Illinois  that  they  belong  to  a  state  so 

rich  in  its  agriculture  and  manufactures  and 

Mrs.  H.  M.  Dunlap.  minerals,  and  yet  are  burdened  by  a  seeming 

neglect  of  its  parents   and  educators   in  our 

rural  schools.  Fundamentally  parents  are  responsible  for  the  schools,  and 
not  our  educators  and  teachers.  Parents  can  have  just  what  they  are  will- 
ing to  pay  for  and  work  to  secure. 


WHERE  ILLINOIS  STANDS. 

The  only  way  I  have  of  showing  Illinois'  position  in  regard  to  her 
rural  schools  is  by  comparing  her  with  other  states.  Facts  are  disconcerting 
at  times,  but  they  should  make  us  think,  and  we  should  work  them  out  to  a 
logical  conclusion,  whether  we  want  to  or  not.  So  treat  the  factors  in 
regard  to  Illinois'  rural  schools  and  I  believe  we  should  have  a  great 
awakening  that  would  soon  place  our  state  along  the  side  of  some  of  our 
neighboring  states  in  rural  education. 

The  first  consolidation  of  one-room  school  houses  for  the  definite 
purpose  of  securing  better  educational  facilities  was  in  Montague,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1875;  almost  fifty  years  ago.  Today  just  one-fourth  of  Massachu- 
setts schools  remain  to  be  consolidated. 

Slowly  the  idea  spread  into  Connecticut,  Maine,  Vermont  and  Rhode 
Island.  It  reached  Indiana  with  her  first  school  in  1889,  and  Ohio  in  1892. 
Those  two  states  have  certainly  found  them  a  success,  as  they  lead  in  point 
of  numbers  of  such  schools  of  all  the  states. 

We  find  the  work  has  progressed  very  slowly,  as  most  of  the  work  has 
been  accomplished  in  the  last  ten  years.  And  now  comparisons  must 
follow,  that  I  may  show  Illinois'  position  before  the  nation.  In  1921  Indiana 
had  1,000  consolidated  schools — Illinois  had  15!  Ohio  had  800 — Illinois  had 
15.  Oklahoma,  a  new  state  comparatively,  had  240 — Illinois,  a  much  older 
state,  had  15.  Mississippi,  one  of  our  southern  states,  limited  as  to  finances, 
had  625 — Illinois  had  15.  Tennessee  this  last  year,  in  face  of  all  financial 
difficulties,  built  48  consolidated  schools  and  has,  all  told,  308 — Illinois  had 
15.  Iowa,  with  no  better  roads  than  Illinois,  had  400  consolidated  schools 
— and  Illinois  had  15 — and  so  I  might  go  on  naming  every  state  in  the 
Union  as.  being  more  progressive  than  Illinois.  A.  B.  MacDonald,  writing 
for  the  Country  Gentleman,  January  22,  1922,  places  Illinois  the  lowest  in 
point  of  interest  and  advancement  in  consolidated  schools. 


142 

I  know  some  of  you  are  thinking  that  you  have  consolidated  schools. 
You  have  your  township  high  school,  but  township  high  schools  are  not 
consolidated  schools.  You  still  have  those  one-room  country  schools,  with 
your  two  sets  of  directors  and  two  sets  of  taxation  for  schools.  We  want 
to  do  away  with  those.  Make  your  township  high  schools  into  consolidated 
schools,  and  abandon  all  those  one-room  school  houses,  where  you  have 
neither  good  teachers  nor  the  correct  surroundings  for  the  children. 
[Applause.] 

After  stating  these  facts,  I  believe  I  know  what  some  of  you  are  thinking 
to  yourselves  in  defense  of  Illinois.  This  one  is  saying:  "We  cannot  have 
consolidated  schools  in  our  community  because  our  roads  are  too  bad."  If 
so,  go  to  work  and  have  them  made  fit  for  consolidated  schools.  See  that 
you  have  the  right  kind  of  supervisors,  then  agitate  good  country  roads 
until  you  get  them.  Have  road  days  several  times  a  year.  Make  a  gala  day 
out  of  them,  with  a  fine  dinner  prepared  by  the  women  and  some  good  times 
thrown  in  with  the  hard  work.  Good  oil  roads  are  always  possible  with 
proper  grading  and  an  Intelligent  use  of  the  oil.  Where  there  is  a  will 
there  is  always  a  way.  Nothing  should  be  impossible  to  the  father  and 
mother  that  have  the  future  welfare  of  their  boys  and  girls  at  heart. 

Another  is  saying:  "We  cannot  afford  to  have  consolidated  schools." 
Now,  be  honest  with  the  thought  and  study  it  pro  and  con,  and  if  so,  I  am 
sure  you  will  say:  "We  cannot  afford  to  be  without  them."  [Applause.] 
You  certainly  wish  the  best  in  education  for  your  boy  and  girl,  and  you 
know  it  Is  impossible  to  have  it  in  the  neglected,  unattractive,  ill  equipped 
one-room  school  house.  Better  fit  your  boy  and  girl  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves through  some  useful  line  of  activity  and  an  education  that  fits  them 
for  life  than  to  leave  them  dollars  or  acres  of  land.  [Applause.] 

Why  can  you  not  see  that  not  a  dollar  can  be  taken  into  the  future, 
but,  women,  we  can  take  the  souls  of  our  little  girls  and  boys  into  the 
future!  You  know  it  has  been  said  that  if  we  could  have  children  from 
the  day  they  are  born  until  they  are  12  years  old,  the  world  can  have  them 
after  that.  Why  don't  you  see  that  the  most  important  period  of  a  child's 
life  is  from  the  time  he  can  begin  to  toddle  until  he  reaches  that  age  of 
12  or  14?  Why  don't  we  have  the  very  best  training  and  the  very  best 
schools  for  our  boys  and  girls  at  that  time  of  life,  and  we  cannot  have  it 
under  present  day  conditions  in  the  country.  It  is  utterly  impossible. 

EDUCATION  OB  FOOLISH  LUXT7BIES? 

"Cannot  afford  it,"  you  say?  Cannot  afford  it,  when  America  spent  for 
luxuries  in  1920,  $22,700,000,000;  more  than  twenty-two  times  as  much  as 
we  spent  for  education  in  1918  and  $6,000,000,000  more  than  we  spent  for 
education  in  all  our  nation's  history  of  300  years!  Some  of  these  luxuries, 
such  as  face  powder,  cosmetics,  perfumes,  soft  drinks,  cigars,  cigarettes, 
tobacco;  snuff,  chewing  gum,  ice  cream,  candy,  joy  rides  and  pleasure  resorts, 
we  could  dispense  with  and  be  the  better  for  the  practiced  self-denial. 

What  couldn't  we  do  for  education  in  America  if  we  could  have  the 
nation  for  one  week  practice  self-denial  in  some  of  these  luxuries  that  they 
think  they  are  obliged  to  have!  Don't  say  you  cannot  afford  it.  When  we 
look  at  the  county  of  Champaign  and  think  that  it  is  the  third  county  in 
the  United  States  in  its  value  of  agricultural  products,  and  yet  not  a  con- 
solidated school  within  its  boundaries.  Some  earnest  efforts  have  been 
attempted,  but  failed  because  some  few  thought  more  of  their  dollars  than 
of  opportunities  and  proper  training  for  the  boys  and  girls  for  successful 
home  making  and  citizenship. 

Some  of  you  are  thinking  of  the  transportation  and  the  difficulties  to 
be  met  and  overcome.  But  it  has  been  found  that  when  that  difficulty  is 
weighed  in  the  balance,  the  moral  and  physical  side  of  the  scale  far  out- 
weighs that  of  all  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome. 

I  could  continue  reading  your  minds  as  you  think  out  difficulties  that 
you  believe  are  unsurmountable,  but  I  must  hasten  to  give  you  some  things 
that  will  prove  how  great  an  advantage  It  will  be  to  your  community,  your 


144 

home,  and  above  all,  to  the  future  success  of  your  boys  and  girls,  when  you 
have  a  first-class  consolidated  school  in  your  community. 

I  wish  I  could  transport  you,  as  I  have  been  transported,  to  some  of 
our  consolidated  communities,  through  the  printed  word  and  pictures,  and 
I  feel  assured  that  your  interest  and  enthusiasm  would  be  awakened,  so  at 
least  you  would  begin  the  agitation  and  work  for  a  consolidated  school  in 
your  midst. 

SOME   CONSOLIDATED   SCHOOLS.  J 

Let  us  go  to  Tate  County,  Mississippi,  and  view  some  of  their  large 
two-story  school  buildings,  with  a  large  group  of  pupils  in  front,  ranging 
from  the  6-year-old  to  the  senior  in  high  school.  You  know  by  the  looks  of 
the  buildings  they  contain  the  equipment  for  all  the  educational  needs 
of  the  country  boy  and  girl.  They  are  beautiful,  sanitary  and  thoroughly 
equipped  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  child. 

When  J.  T.  Calhoun,  state  rural  supervisor,  was  asked,  "Are  the  con- 
solidated schools  having  any  direct  effect  on  farm  life?"  he  replied:  "Yes, 
not  only  on  farm  life,  but  very  often  their  influence  permeates  the  whole 
life  of  a  county.  Tate  County  people  are  using  their  schools  to  redeem  the 
county  from  an  unsound  business  and  farming  system." 

When  J.  B.  Snider,  Jr.,  editor  of  one  of  their  papers,  was  asked  about 
the  financial  condition  of  the  county,  he  said:  "Yes,  we  are  hard  hit.  We 
expected  it;  knew,  in  fact,  that  we  could  not  escape.  But — and  here  is  the 
reason  we  are  not  downhearted — we  are  building  so  this  sort  of  col' apse 
cannot  happen  again.  When  I  say  we  are  building  to  escape  future  ca'ami- 
ties  I  refer  to  the  schools."  He  means  that  their  boys  and  girls  are  to  be 
educated  in  diversified  farming  and  to  love  to  work  as  well  as  in  book 
knowledge.  Surely  they  are  building  well  for  the  future. 

R.  D.  Jacobs,  principal  of  one  of  their  consolidated  schools,  says:  "Our 
school  serves  as  a  center  for  all  the  social  and  business  activities  of  the 
district."  He  gave  it  the  title  of  "a  service  station  for  the  community;  a 
place  where  everybody  in  the  district  can  come  for  information  and  help." 

Couldn't  we  soon  remove  ignorance  from  the  world  if  we  could  have 
that  kind  of  a  school  in  every  community?  And  it  has  been  said  that  all 
of  the  unrest,  dissatisfaction,  the  hate,  the  envy,  the  jealousy,  the  divorces, 
the  ill  health — all  of  the  difficulties  and  problems  of  life  have  two  great 
causes.  These  two  causes  are  ignorance  and  selfishness.  Ignorance  must 
be  replaced  with  knowledge  through  a  rieht  school  and  home  training,  and 
selfishness  overcome  by  the  spirit  of  service  being  developed  for  our  fellow- 
man  and  our  love  of  God  better  demonstrated  through  this  service.  That 
is  the  only  way  we  can  ever  do  it.  [Applause.] 

I  should  like  to  transplant  you  to  a  $225,000  consolidated  school  in 
southwest  Kansas,  in  a  rented  farm  district.  It  is  an  irrigated  district, 
where  many  acres  of  beets  are  raised.  Surely,  if  they  can  build  a  building 
like  that  for  the  present  and  to  meet  their  needs  for  some  time  in  the 
future,  Illinois  can  do  equally  as  well,  if  she  thinks  so,  but  in  many  instances 
the  needs  of  a  community  can  be  met  with  much  less  expense. 

All  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  whole  community  are  being  educated 
in  a  school  that  has  no  superior  anywhere.  Many  of  the  children  are 
Russian  and  Mexican,  with  Italian  and  Greeks.  The  parents  of  these  chil- 
dren, many  of  them,  objected  to  sending  them  to  the  school  the  first  year,  as 
they  wanted  them  to  work  in  the  beet  fields,  but  when  they  saw  what  it 
was  doing  for  the  boys  and  girls,  they  said  they  would  not  keep  their 
children  out  any  more,  as  the  school  was  worth  more  than  the  beets. 

But  there  it  is  not  all  book  knowledge.  The  book  knowledge  is  there, 
but  it  is  applied  every  day  and  every  hour  to  the  child,  and  they  have  to 
learn  to  work  as  a  part  of  their  educational  training. 

And  this  is  what  it  does  for  all  the  children  in  that  range  of  school 
territory.  They  have  a  Smith-Hughes  agricultural  and  manual  training 
instructor.  They  train  on  a  twelve-acre  tract  in  practical  farming,  in  the 
very  soil  and  climatic  conditions  of  that  part  of  the  country,  in  raising  the 
kind  of  crops  and  live  stock  beet  adapted  to  that  region.  They  make 


145 

tical  farmers  of  them,  and  in  their  manual  training  department  they  teach 
them  how  to  make  and  repair  farming  tools  and  implements  and  the  common 
things  that  are  used  about  the  farm.  The  girls  are  taught  domestic  science, 
art  and  music.  They  teach  them  cooking,  sewing  and  all  branches  of  farm 
housekeeping.  They  are  especially  proud  of  their  music  department,  where 
they  give  piano  lessons  to  the  individual,  have  classes  in  the  violin,  and 
teach  vocal  music  and  singing  in  chorus.  They  tell  how  marvelously  they 
have  progressed,  some  of  these  boys  and  girls,  with  their  music,  because 
many  of  our  foreigners  have  much  natural  ability  in  music.  Their  music 
is  helping  them  in  training  for  their  citizenship. 

If  every  county  in  Illinois  could  have — and  they  can — a  record  like 
Randolph  County  in  Indiana,  we  would  soon  obliterate  many  of  our  state 
and  local  problems.  It  claims  it  is  the  greatest  consolidated  school  county 
in  creation.  Seventeen  big  consolidated  schools  out  in  the  open  country, 
with  big  gymnasiums  and  auditoriums!  They  have  on^y  six  one-room 
schools  in  all  the  county,  and  expect  to  get  rid  of  four  of  them  this  winter. 
All  but  a  few  of  the  children  in  the  county  are  carried  to  and  from  school 
in  motor  trucks  heated  in  cold  weather.  They  have  nine  school  orchestras 
of  farm  boys  and  girls  out  in  the  country.  Every  boy  and  girl  in  the  county 
that  is  big  enough  and  able  is  in  school,  and  96  per  cent  of  them  go  through 
the  high  school.  The  census  lists  less  than  1  per  cent  of  all  the  people  in 
the  county  as  illiterate. 

This  sounds  as  though  the  millennium  was  approaching  in  that  county. 
Don't  you  think  the  boys  and  girls  educated  close  to  the  farm  and  its  life 
will  remain  upon  the  farms  of  that  county,  instead  of  going  to  town  and 
city?  I  do,  and  they  will  not  be  grouchy,  dissatisfied  citizens,  with  a  ten- 
dency toward  socialism,  but  will  be  loyal,  patriotic  and  most  desirable 
citizens;  citizens  always  ready  to  meet  their  country's  needs  and 
requirements. 

It  is  like  a  fairy  tale  to  read  of  what  has  been  accomplished  in 
Anderson  County,  South  Carolina.  John  E.  Swearingen,  a  blind  man  of 
brilliant  intellect,  who  for  nineteen  years  has  been  state  superintendent 
of  schools,  caught  the  vision  and  carried  it  to  the  people  of  that  county; 
they  caught  his  vision,  and  now  consolidated  schools  are  springing  up 
rapidly.  So  much  pleased  are  they  with  results  that  the  old  way  has  no 
attraction  for  them,  and  they  claim  they  have  just  begun  the  good  work 
for  the  state. 

Out  in  Colorado  they  have  a  large,  beautiful  building  that  is  situated 
out  in  the  open,  that  is  just  as  much  a  consolidated  church  as  a  consolidated 
school  house,  and  just  as  much  a  consolidated  school  house  as  a  consolidated 
church.  Nine  different  creeds  are  represented  in  the  church,  and  the  whole 
community  is  as  one  big  family,  united  by  their  common  interest  in  church 
and  school.  A  Sunday  morning  service  will  bring  four  or  five  hundred 
people  together.  I  wish  I  had  time  to  tell  you  how  it  was  all  accomplished. 
Think  of  nine  different  denominations  attending  a  church  in  a  spirit  of 
harmony  and  co-operation  and  good  will,  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord! 

WHAT   WE   SHOULD   WORK   FOB   IN   ILLINOIS. 

I  must  not  name  more  of  the  working  of  these  wonderful  schools,  for 
you  certainly  must  know  from  the  few  I  have  cited  that  when  once  estab- 
lished they  are  there  to  stay.  Then  why,  oh,  why  is  Illinois  so  slow  in 
meeting  her  obligations  to  the  rural  boys  and  girls  of  our  state,  when  they 
have  been  tried  and  not  found  wanting  in  value,  and  need  no  more  proof 
of  their  value  to  us  as  a  state  or  community? 

Is  it  politics?  Is  it  a  cultivated  indifference  fostered  by  an  over-amount 
of  selfishness,  or  both?  Something  is  wrong,  and  I  put  this  question  to  the 
women  of  this  meeting:  Are  you  going  to  be  willing  to  have  your  boys  and 
girls  deprived  of  opportunities  that  they  should  have  because  some  one  or 
many  have  failed  to  do  his  or  their  part? 

Our  educational  life  in  the  past  has  been  almost  entirely  planned  and 
directed  by  men,  but  today,  women,  the  responsibility  and  duties  of  It  are 


146 

going  to  b«  placed  partly  upon  your  shoulders.  Art  you  going  to  m«et  tb«m 
or  not? 

Women,  we  have  something  to  work  for  that  is  worth  while,  and  I  wish 
all  of  the  organizations  of  women  in  our  state  could  at  once  place  in  action 
their  combined  strength  in  the  greatest  co-operative  movement  ever  started 
in  our  state — the  movement  for  better  rural  schools,  through  consolidation! 

The  things  you  will  be  working  for  are  given  in  this  summary  of 
advantages  of  consolidation  by  one  of  our  state  superintendents  of  schools, 
who  has  had  much  experience  in  the  field.  I  want  you  to  let  me  read  these 
to  you  and  let  them  "soak  in" — if  I  may  use  such  an  expression — so  you 
will  see  how  worth  while  they  are  to  work  for: 

1.  Increases  the  attendance. 

2.  Makes  the  attendance  more  regular. 

3.  Increases  the  enrollment. 

4.  Keeps  the  older  pupils  in  school  longer. 

5.  Provides  hierh  school  privileges  at  one-third  the  cost. 

6.  Makes  possible  the  securing  of  better  trained  teachers. 

7.  Results  in  higher  salaries  for  better  trained  teachers. 

8.  Makes  possible  more  and  better  grade  work. 

9.  Improves  industrial  conditions  in  the  county. 

10.  Enriches  the  civic-social  life  activities. 

11.  Conserves  more  largely  the  health  and  morals  of  the  children. 

12.  Increases  the  number  of  eighth-grade  completions. 

13.  Provides  adequate  supervision. 

14.  Reduces  truancy  and  tardiness. 

15.  Develops  better  school  spirit. 

16.  Gives  more  time  for  recitations. 

17.  Increases  the  value  of  real  estate. 

18.  Produces  greater  pride  and  interest  in  country  life. 

19.  Prevents  the  drift  to  the  larger  towns  and  cities. 

20.  Brings  more  and  better  equipped  buildings. 

21.  Eliminates  the  small,  weak  school. 

22.  Creates  a  school  of  greater  worth,  dignity  and  usefulness. 

23.  Makes  possible  a  more  economical  school. 

24.  Provides  equal  educational  opportunities. 

25.  Gives  much  greater  and  better  results  in  every  way. 

Recently  I  heard  a  man  of  position  and  recognized  intellect  say:  "There 
is  too  much  false  agitation  against  the  little  red  school  house.  I  received 
some  of  my  education  there.  It  was  good  enough  for  me,  and  it  Is  still 
good  enough  for  the  boys  and  girls."  He  may  talk  it,  but  the  forces  of 
education  and  progress  in  every  state  are  beginning  to  be  arrayed  against 
it,  and  it  must  go.  [Applause.] 

I  am  going  to  close  with  the  indictment  against  it  given  in  a  recent 
speech  by  President  Harding.  He  says:  "We  have  just  awakened  to  the 
fact  that  the  education  of  the  American  child  has  fallen  below  the  standard 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  our  future.  We  have  to  face  the  fact  that 
our  teachers  are  underpaid;  that  in  physical  training,  in  the  teaching  of 
American  civil  government  and  American  history,  in  the  principles  of 
Americanism  and  Americanization  we  have  been  deplorably  delinquent. 
But  nowhere  is  there  more  cause  for  alarm  than  in  the  fact  that  the  rural 
school  term  is  far  too  short,  and  that  four-fifths  of  the  rural  schools  are 
one-teacher  schools,  resulting  in  hasty  and  careless  teaching;  and  that  the 
opportunity  for  country  boys  and  girls  to  have  high  school  education  is  all 
too  slight.  We  owe  it  to  the  childhood  of  the  nation,  and  to  the  childhood 
of  the  agricultural  districts  of  our  land,  to  place  at  its  disposal  the  utmost 
in  educational  facilities." 

Women,  are  we  going  to  help?  Let's  sacrifice  some  of  our  time  and 
some  of  the  things  we  can  do  without,  and  go  back  to  our  homes  and 
look  over  our  community  conditions  and  see  if  we  are  not  responsible 
for  some  of  them — because  we  are — and  let's  pray  as  we  have  never  prayed 
before  for  God  to  give  us  strength  and  courage  and  power  to  go  out  into 


14* 

these  country  districts  and  bring  to  them  a  school  that  fit  our  boys  and 
girls  for  life.  That  is  what  education  should  mean,  and  that  is  what  we 
must  do.  [Applause.] 


FRIDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 


February  24,  1922,  9  o'clock  A.  M. 
Male  Quartette — Swedish  Lutheran  Church. 
Invocation — Rev.  R.  W.  Lindsay. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  ultimate  end  of  nearly  all  the  crops  that 
we  grow  is  human  nutrition,  whether  it  be  cotton,  which  is  two-thirds  ulti- 
mately human  nutrition,  or  whether  it  produces  wool,  or  all  the  other  crops, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  they  ultimately  reach  the  human  stomach  as 
food.  We  have  now  come  to  the  time  when  we  must  give  consideration  to 
the  economic  production  of  human  food.  No  forms  of  food  which  reach  the 
human  stomach  in  so  palatable  and  so  nutritious  form  as  dairy  products,  and 
when  we  want  to  study  on  the  economies  in  producing  dairy  products  we  go 
to  Iowa  and  get  Professor  Kildee  to  come  and  tell  us  about  it.  Professor 
Kildee: 

REDUCING  DAIRY  FARM  COSTS. 
(Prof.  H.  H.  Kildee.) 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  It  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  come 
over  to  Illinois  and  meet  with  our  neighbors  who  are  interested  in  the  same 
problems  that  we  are  interested  in.  You  people  are  facing  about  the  same 

conditions,  you  are  meeting  about  the  same 
situation  that  we  who  are  farmers  in  Iowa  are 
attempting  to  meet  at  the  present  time. 

Your  president,  Mr.  Mann,  has  very  nicely 
set  before  you  the  situation  and  given  me  a 
very  nice  foundation  upon  which  to  build.  In 
coming  before  you  this  morning  it  is  not  my 
purpose  to  attempt  to  advise  you.  I  know 
how  people  in  any  line  of  business  look  upon 
advisers.  In  regard  to  the  agricultural  situa- 
tion what  you  need  to  do  at  the  present  time  is 
to  profit  by  the  experience  of  other  men  who 
are  leaders  in  successful  business  farming. 

A  few  years  ago  during  the  war  I  was 
located  in  the  state  of  Minnesota,  and  one  day, 
after  attending  a  dairy  meeting,  I  was  sitting 
in  the  lobby  of  a  little  hotel  waiting  for  the 
evening  session.  There  was  a  traveling  man 
sitting  near  the  stove  not  far  from  me.  He 
was  not  an  average  traveling  man,  I  would 
say  he  was  not  up  to  the  stand'ard,  but  this 
man  was  attempting  to  tell  everyone  in  the 
room  just  what  was  wrong  with  our  conditions, 
just  why  potatoes,  corn,  meat  and  everything 
else  was  so  high,  and  he  was  blaming  everything  upon  the  farmers.  He  said 
the  farmers  were  letting  the  potatoes  rot  to  keep  the  price  up.  He  knew 
everything  about  everything  that  was  to  be  known,  evidently.  A  good,  solid, 
prosperous  looking  farmer  sitting  near  stood  it  as  long  as  he  could  and 
finally  he  turned  to  this  man  and  he  said:  "I  may  not  know  as  much  about 
the  general  situation  as  you  profess  to  know,  but  I  can  tell  you  how  to  bring 
this  war  over  in  Europe  to  a  close  inside  of  thirty  days."  The  traveling  man 


Prof.  H.  H.  Kildee 


148 

said:  "How  would  you  do  that?"  The  farmer  said:  "I  would  send  all  of 
the  people  who  are  going  about  the  country  advising  the  farmer  and  every- 
one else  what  to  do,  to  the  war  zone  and  put  them  in  the  front  line,  and  the 
Kaiser  would  throw  up  his  hands  in  despair  because  he  would  not  have 
enough  gas  masks  to  go  around."  [Laughter.] 

I  don't  want  you  people  to  put  on  gas  masks,  I  don't  want  to  attempt 
to  advise  you,  but  simply  want  to  talk  with  you  relative  to  reducing  the  farm 
cost  of  producing  dairy  products. 

What  I  have  to  say  about  the  production  of  dairy  products,  what  I  have 
to  say  in  favor  of  dairying  as  compared  to  other  forms  of  marketing  our 
farm  products  is  not  said  to  discourage  the  efficient  production  of  other 
classes  of  farm  animals.  We  need  them  all.  We  need  a  balanced  animal 
husbandry  and  balanced  farming  in  this  country.  We  appreciate  that  at  the 
present  time  the  men  who  are  producing  pork,  the  men  who  are  feeding  the 
corn  to  hogs  are  getting  a  very  good  return  from  their  corn  as  compared  with 
the  market  price  at  the  elevator.  We  realize  that  the  lamb  and  sheep  feeders 
are  making  money.  We  realize  in  the  case  of  the  beef  cattle  industry,  the 
men  who  are  using  the  best  judgment  and  methods  are  making  money.  Of 
course,  they  have  had  one  or  two  hard  years.  We  might  go  further  and  con- 
sider the  draft  horse  industry  and  others,  but  that  is  not  my  subject  this 
morning. 

SOME    RECOGNIZED    FACTS. 

We  do  realize  that  the  dairy  cow  is  the  most  efficient  and  economic  pro- 
ducer of  human  food  of  any  of  the  farm  animals.  We  realize  she  converts 
the  farm  roughage  and  grains  into  a  very  nutritious  product.  We  know  it 
is  a  product  that  is  necessary  from  the  standpoint  of  proper  growth  and 
development  of  children.  We  know  it  is  necessary  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  maintenance  of  health  and  proper  nutrition  of  the  adult. 

We  know  furthermore  that  the  dairy  cow  retains  and  builds  up  soil 
fertility  better  than  we  do  it  with  other  systems  of  farming. 

We  know  furthermore  that  one  of  the  things  in  favor  of  dairying  at  the 
present  time  is  the  fact  that  the  dairy  cow  gives  us  a  steady  and  dependable 
source  of  income,  a  thing  which  is  certainly  needed  in  Iowa  at  the  present 
time,  and  no  doubt  appreciated  by  the  farmers  in  Illinois  as  well.  We  find 
that  with  this  situation  before  us  even  the  most  enthusiastic  dairyman,  if 
he  be  absolutely  truthful,  would  have  to  admit  that  there  are  many  unprofit- 
able so-called  dairy  herds. 

The  fact  that  a  man  has  a  dairy  herd,  or  has  a  reputation  of  being  a 
dairyman  does  not  mean  that  he  should  have  unlimited  credit  at  the  bank, 
because  we  find  that  there  are  unprofitable  as  well  as  profitable  dairy  herds. 
In  fact,  I  am  sure  that  taking  the  country  as  a  whole  our  dairy  cows  do  not 
produce  more  than  50  per  cent  as  much  milk  and  butter  fat  as  they  could 
and'  would  if  we  would  follow  the  business  methods  of  dairy  farming  that 
our  most  successful  dairy  farmers  follow.  You  know  it  takes  real  brains  to 
be  a  successful  farmer  of  any  type,  certainly  at  the  present  time,  and  we 
realize  that  both  dairy  farming  and  livestock  farming  are  real  businesses 
that  must  be  conducted  upon  business  methods.  We  -realize  that  in  the  case 
of  some  individuals  who  go  about  it  in  a  rather  slip-shod  way  probably  the 
law  of  averages  helps  them  out  to  a  certain  extent.  Men  who  are  in  and  out 
of  any  business  are  likely  to  go  in  at  the  high  time  and  out  at  the  low.  We 
have  many  illustrations  of  that  in  our  state.  If  a  man  stays  in  a  game  he 
is  best  fitted  for  and  gives  it  his  best  effort  mentally  as  well  as  physically 
he  is  the  man  who  will  win  out  in  the  long  run. 

Speaking  about  keeping  at  it  reminds  me  of  a  story  that  Clifford  Thorne 
once  told  us  of  a  soldier  that  was  in  the  habit  of  betting.  Probably  the  story 
has  been  told  here.  He  said  that  this  soldier  would  bet  upon  every  occasion. 
He  would  bet  upon  anything  that  was  suggested.  He  would  bet  with  his 
buddies  as  they  were  marching  down  the  road  that  the  next  horse  they  met 
would  be  a  white  horse;  he  would  bet  that  the  next  girl  they  met  would  be 
a  red-headed  girl.  He  would  bet  upon  anything  with  anybody.  The  captain 
thought  that  this  thing  had  gone  far  enough,  that  this  fellow  was  rather 


149 


Scrub    cow    52,    dam    of 
half-blood  Holstein  69. 

Average  Production: 
3742  Ibs.  milk 
169  Ibs.  fat 


Half-blood    Holstein    69 

out    of    52    and 

dam  of  281. 


Average  Production: 
6701  Ibs.  milk 
282  Ibs.  fat 


Increase  over  dam  of 
79%   in  milk 
67%  In  fat 


Three-quarters     blood 

Holstein.    281    out 

of    69 

Average   Production: 
9409   Ibs.   milk 
347   Ibs.   fat 

Increase  over  grand-dam 
150%    in  milk 
105%   in  fat 


150 

ruining  the  discipline  of  the  company.  He  called  him  in  and  he  said,  "Well, 
you'll  have  to  stop  this  betting."  The  fellow  finally  said  that  he  would  try. 
The  captain  said,  "Well,  I  think  you  need  a  little  more  moral  persuasion. 
I'll  send  you  over  to  the  general."  The  private  was  sent  over  to  the  general's 
office.  The  general  gave  him  a  lecture  upon  the  sin  and  the  evils  of  betting, 
and  the  private  seemed  fairly  well  impressed,  but  as  he  turned  to  go  out  he 
said,  "It's  all  right,  general,  I'll  try  to  stop,  but  I'll  bet  you  a  hundred  dollars 
that  you  have  a  mole  on  your  right  shoulder,"  The  general  said,  "Why, 
that  is  preposterous!  Why,  that  is  beneath  my  dignity  to  bet  with  you  on 
a  subject  like  that,"  The  soldier  said,  "Well,  here's  a  hundred  dollars." 
The  general  waved  him  away,  and  then  as  the  private  started  to  go  out  of 
the  room  he  said,  "Come  back."  He  thought  to  himself  he  would  teach  this 
young  private  a  lesson.  So  he  put  down  his  hundred  dollars  and  he  said, 
"I'll  just  bet  you  a  hundred  dollars.  I  just  want  to  make  this  bet  to  teach 
you  a  much  needed  lesson."  The  private  put  down  the  hundred  dollars 
and  said,  "General,  take  off  your  shirt."  The  general  fumed  and  fussed 
around  for  a  while  and  finally  took  off  his  shirt.  Of  course,  there  was  no 
mole  on  his  right  shoulder.  The  general  pocketed  the  private's  hundred 
dollars  and  he  said,  "Young  man,  let  this  be  a  lesson  to  you.  Stop  your 
betting."  The  private  walked  out  of  the  office,  and  pretty  soon  the  general 
wrote  a  note  to  the  captain  and  told  him  what  he  had  done,  how  he  had 
cured  the  young  man  of  betting.  The  captain  wrote  back  saying:  "General, 
I  believe  you  and  I  are  the  two  biggest  darn  fools  in  this  man's  army. 
Before  the  private  left  my  office  to  go  to  yours  he  bet  me  two  hundred  dollars 
he  could  have  your  shirt  off  in  thirty  minutes."  [Laughter.] 

So  we  realize  we  must  stay  by  it,  we  must  use  our  heads  to  win  out. 
The  private  used'  his  head  and  thereby  he  reaped  the  reward. 

FACTORS  IN  PROFITABLE  OPERATION. 

In  connection  with  the  dairy  business  we  realize  there  are  four  factors 
that  enter  into  the  profitable  operation  of  a  dairy  farm. 

First  of  all  we  have  the  quantity  of  production.  The  quantity  of  milk 
produced  depends  upon  the  cows  that  you  have  in  your  herd,  it  depends  upon 
the  feeding  and  management.  One  must  have  a  healthy  herd  of  productive 
individuals  to  get  the  best  results.  There  is  no  question  but  what  there  are 
good'  individuals  within  each  of  our  breeds.  There  are  mighty  good  grades 
among  each  of  our  pure  bred  dairy  breeds,  but  we  realize  that  a  man  must 
have  the  productive  individuals  if  he  is  going  to  get  very  far  in  the  dairy 
business. 

The  second  factor  is  that  of  quality  of  product.  We  must  produce  a 
milk  that  is  sanitary,  a  milk  from  a  healthy  herd.  We  must  consider  the 
percentage  of  fat  in  that  milk  if  we  are  going  to  get  the  best  returns.  That 
does  not  mean  that  the  breeds  such  as  the  Holstein  is  under  a  serious  handi- 
cap as  compared'  with  the  Jersey  or  Guernsey,  because  you  have  the  quantity 
of  milk  to  make  up  for  the  difference  in  butter  fat. 

The  next  factor  is  the  cost  of  production,  and  that  is  the  thing  I  want 
to  emphasize  this  morning.  In  feeding  for  economical  production  we  must 
utilize  of  the  farm  roughages  and  feeds  to  produce  milk  in  the  most  efficient 
and  economical  manner.  We  know  it  is  possible  to  make  big  records. 
We  can  make  larger  records,  no  doubt,  where  we  have  unlimited  capital 
available  with  which  to  produce  the  most  palatable  and  nutritious  feeds  on 
the  market. 

The  next  factor  that  is  receiving  attention  over  the  country  in  connec- 
tion with  agricultural  products  is  that  of  the  price  obtained  for  the  product, 
or  the  marketing.  In  the  case  of  dairying  we  have  our  co-operative  cream- 
reies,  our  Co-operative  Milk  Producers'  Association,  we  have  our  cheese 
factories.  We  need  much  more  co-operation  of  the  right  sort  if  we  are  going 
to  put  the  dairying  business  and  other  farm  industries  across  in  the  right 
way.  Speaking  about  co-operation,  it  seems  to  me  that  too  often  the  co- 
operation that  we  have  in  use  nowadays  might  be  described  by  the  wording 
of  a  bill  which  was  introduced  in  the  Kansas  legislature  at  the  last  session. 


151 

This  bill  had  to  do  with  regulating  railroad  crossings  and  intersection!. 
The  wording  of  the  bill  was  as  follows:  "When  two  trains  meet  at  a  railroad 
crossing  or  intersection  both  trains  must  stop  and  neither  train  may  proceed 
until  the  other  train  has  passed  on."  [Laughter.]  We  find  people  waiting 
on  one  another  in  just  that  way  in  the  co-operative  enterprises,  and  many 
times  the  failure  of  a  co-operative  enterprise  may  be  traced  to  that  situation. 
But  how  are  we  going  to  improve  and  increase  the  profits  of  the  products 
of  our  dairy  herds?  First  of  all  it  is  a  question  of  weeding  out  the  inferior 
animals,  then  it  is  a  question  of  breeding  them  better,  a  question  of  judicious 
feeding,  a  question  of  maintaining  the  health  and  then  the  marketing  of  our 
products  in  the  most  efficient  way.  Those  are  the  points  that  I  would 
emphasize  and  the  points  which  are  emphasized  by  our  most  successful 
dairymen  in  putting  the  business  across  in  a  profitable  way. 

WEEDING  AND  BREEDING. 

First,  how  are  we  going  to  increase  the  production  of  our  herds  through 
weeding  and  breeding?  We  have  many  illustrations,  and  doubtless  some  of 
you  have  them  on  your  own  farms,  where  people  have  made  a  wonderful 
increase  in  the  production  of  their  dairy  herds  by  weeding  out  the  inferior 
animals  and  by  breeding  their  cattle  better  through  the  use  of  good  pure 
bred  sires,  even  if  they  have  but  a  scrub  or  grade  cow  at  the  beginning. 
There  has  been  much  accomplished  on  that  line.  Thousands  of  records 
might  be  quoted  from  our  cow  testing  associations  showing  the  progress  that 
has  been  made  on  that  line.  I  simply  want  to  cite  the  increase  of  one  of  our 
herds  to  bring  to  you  just  what  was  brought  about  in  the  course  of  three 
years'  time. 

In  one  of  our  cow  testing  association  herds  the  production  the  first  year 
that  they  kept  the  record's  was  5,665  pounds  of  milk,  207  pounds  of  butter 
fat;  a  net  income  over  cost  of  feeding,  not  counting  any  labor,  interest  on 
investment,  not  counting  the  value  of  fertility  returned  and  other  factors,  but 
the  net  income  over  cost  of  feed  was  $22  per  cow. 

The  second  year,  after  weeding  out  the  inferior  cows  and  keeping 
records  on  them  by  means  of  milk  scales,  the  production  of  this  herd  was 
7,060  pounds  of  milk  and  the  butter  fat  production  was  251.9,  which  raised 
the  net  income  per  cow  up  to  $53.96. 

The  third  year — in  consecutive  order — these  cows  averaged!  nearly 
10,000  pounds  of  milk,  and  341.9  pounds  of  butter  fat,  a  net  income  over  cost 
of  feed  of  over  $75.  That  was  brought  about  in  just  three  years'  time  through 
weeding  out  the  inferior  cows,  through  the  use  of  pure  bred  sires. 

But  the  question  is  often  asked:  How  can  one  who  has  what  he  knows 
to  be  a  poor  herd  get  the  standard  of  production  he  should  have  in  the 
shortest  possible  time?  Of  course  that  question  could  be  answered  by  going 
out  and  buying  the  animals.  We  realize  in  that  connection  that  many  people 
have  been  disappointed.  Doubtless  you  people  can  point  to  illustrations 
where  people  have  gone  out  and  paid  a  lot  of  money  for  good  grade  cows 
or  pure  bred  dairy  cows,  cows  that  were  known  to  be  good  prducers,  they 
have  brought  them  in  and  in  many  cases  they  have  been  careless  in  regard 
to  guarding  against  the  introduction  of  diseases,  they  have  been  careless  in 
feeding.  They  may  have  the  cows  but  not  have  the  other  facilities  in  the 
matter  of  feeding  and  management  necessary  to  put  the  herd  across  on  a 
profitable  basis. 

We  find  many  of  these  people  going  into  the  business  have  the  cows, 
they  have  the  interest,  they  have  the  desire  to  become  dairy  men,  but  they 
don't  have  the  knowledge  of  feeding  and  managment,  they  do  not  have  the 
equipment  necessary,  and  that  is  just  the  sad  part  about  it. 

PURE   BRED    SIRES    PAT. 

To  what  extent  can  we  increase  the  production  through  the  use  of  good 
pure  bred  sires  upon  our  scrub  herds?  To  answer  that  question  the  Iowa 
experiment  station  some  years  ago  bought  a  lot  of  scrub  cows  down  in  the 
hills  of  Arkansas  and  they  were  brought  d'own  to  the  station.  We  have 


152 

records  on  those  grades  for  ten  or  eleven  years,  and  I  want  to  show  you  a 
few  photographs. 

As  the  cows  came  to  the  Iowa  experiment  station  they  were  in  about  in 
this  condition  (exhibiting  photograph),  looking  rather  sad  and  dejected. 
She  had  pep  enough  to  go  to  the  barn  and  get  her  feed,  but  that  was  about 
all.  Her  first  year's  record  was  131  pounds  of  butter  fat.  Here  you  have 
the  same  cow  three  years  later.  You  notice  the  great  increase  in  her 
development.  This  cow  produced  twice  as  much  butter  fat  at  the  end  of 
her  third  year  at  the  station.  She  was  a  mature  cow  when  she  reached  the 
station. 

Then  pure  bred  sires  of-  the  different  breeds  were  used  on  these  scrub 
cows.  No  attempt  was  made  to  compare  the  different  breeds  of  dairy  cattle 
in  this  connection  and  the  records  that  are  shown  here  should  not  be  taken 
as  a  comparison,  because  the  daughters  of  the  pure  bred  Guernsey  bull  are 
not  out  of  the  same  d'ams  as  the  daughters  of  the  pure  bred  Holstein  bull; 
excepting  in  a  few  instances,  but  not  in  enough  cases  to  make  a  comparison. 
And  then  we  found  so  much  variation  between  the  pure  bred  sires  of  the 
same  breed  in  their  ability  to  increase  the  production  of  their  grade  daugh- 
ters over  the  scrub  cows.  We  found  one  pure  bred  sire  that  did  not  materially 
increase  the  production  of  his  daughters  over  the  scrubs  and  the  next  bull 
of  that  same  breed  increased  the  production  of  the  two  year  old  daughters 
over  the  same  scrub  dams  as  much  as  a  hundred  and  thirty  per  cent  in 
butter  fat. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  breed,  it  is  a  question  of  individual.  Even 
though  we  use  bulls  upon  a  grade  herd  we  must  consider  that  matter  of 
productive  inheritance  and  the  ability  of  the  bulls  to  increase  the  production 
of  the  animal. 

Here  we  have  an  old  scrub  cow,  one  of  the  better  ones,  and'  therefore 
her  daughter  does  not  show  as  large  an  improvement  in  the  amount  of 
butter  fat  as  in  some  of  the  other  cases.  She  produced  233  pounds  of  butter 
fat.  That  is  better  than  the  average  cow  in  Iowa  produces.  But  this  cow 
was  just  a  calf  when  she  came  to  the  station  and  she  was  developed  under 
the  same  conditions  as  the  pure  bred  dairy  animals  in  that  herd.  She  had 
some  advantage  there  over  some  of  the  other  scrub  cows. 

Here  is  a  half-blood  Jersey  out  of  this  same  cow.  This  half-blood 
Jersey  as  a  two-year-old  produced  325  pounds  of  butter  fat.  She  also  shows 
great  improvement  in  type. 

Going  to  the  next  generation,  the  second  generation,  or  the  three-quarter 
blood  heifer  from  the  same  scrub  cow  foundation,  we  have  a  record  of  360 
pounds  of  butter  fat,  thus  the  two-year-old  heifer  was  producing  enough 
butter  fat  to  qualify  a  mature  cow  for  the  register. 

Now  as  to  the  selection  of  the  sires  used.  First  of  all  let  me  say  that 
this  increase  in  production  was  secured  by  using  no  better  sires  than  the 
average  dairy  farmer  can  afford  to  buy.  The  bulls  we  used  on  these  scrub 
cows  and  used  in  siring  the  three  quarter-bloods  were  bulls  that  could  have 
been  bought  from  around  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  We 
may  think  a  hundred  dollars  or  a  hundred  and'  fifty  dollars  a  good  price 
for  a  pure  bred  bull  calf,  but  when  you  stop  to  think  about  the  possibilities 
of  the  investment  from  the  standpoint  of  the  milk  and  butter  fat  you  realize 
it  is  money  well  invested. 

Here  we  have  a  Holstein  bull  which  is  now  at  the  head  of  our  herd. 
Probably  some  of  you  have  seen  him,  a  first  prize  bull  at  Chicago  as  a  two- 
year-old,  but  the  bulls  that  we  were  using  at  the  beginning  were  not  as  good 
bulls  as  these.  We  find  that  bulls  of  good  type  are  necessary.  We  must 
have  a  combination  of  type  and  production  if  we  are  going  to  put  our  dairy 
cattle  across  in  the  best  possible  way. 

Here  we  have  another  one  of  the  scrub  cows.  You  notice  the  shallow 
body  and  rather  steery  head,  and  the  udder  about  the  size  of  a  goat's  udder. 
She  produced  178  pounds  of  butter  fat. 

Here  we  have  her  daughter  that  produced  as  a  two-year-old  287  pounds 
of  butter  fat,  an  increase  of  90  per  cent  in  milk  and  an  increase  of  84  per 
cent  in  the  amount  of  butter  fat. 


153 


Scrub    cow     33,    dam 
half-blood  Guern- 
sey   87. 

Average  Production: 
4339  Ibs.  milk 
183  Ibs.  fat 


Average  Production: 
4213  Ibs.  milk 
180  Ibs.  fat 


Half-blood   Guernsey    87, 

out  of  33  and  dam 

of  296. 


Increase  over  dam  of 
3%  in  milk 
2%    in   fat 


Three-quarter     blood 

Guernsey    296, 

out   of   87. 

Average  Production: 
9107  Ibs.  milk 
435   Ibs.  fat 

Increase  over  grand-dam 
110%    in  milk 
137%  in  fat 


164 

Then  we  go  one  more  generation,  the  three-quarter-blood,  marked  as 
true  as  any  pure  bred  Holstein.  She  produced  474  pounds  of  butter  fat. 
There  is  just  one  step,  one  link  in  between  this  474  pound  producer  and  this 
187  pound  producer.  It  tells  the  story  of  the  value  of  the  pure  bred  sire. 

Now  you  people  can  all  point  to  illustrations  in  your  community  where 
pure  bred  sires  have  given  similar  returns  in  the  butter  fat,  but  can  we  be 
sure  that  the  feeding  and  management  of  the  cows  at  the  beginning  were 
just  the  same  as  the  feeding  and  management  of  these  grades  later?  And 
so  that  is  the  object  really  of  this  piece  of  experimental  work,  to  separate 
those  factors. 

Here  we  have  one  of  the  scrub  cows,  a  steery  appearing  individual,  and 
yet  she  produced  183  pounds  of  butter  fat.  We  know  that  there  are  some 
scrubs  in  all  of  our  breeds  that  are  registered,  so  we  must  go  further  than 
simply  buy  a  pure  bred  animal. 

Here  is  the  heifer  by  such  pure  bred  animal.  There  wasn't  much  back 
of  him  by  way  of  production,  but  he  was  used  simply  because  a  few  Guernsey 
breeders  in  the  state  at  that  time,  quite  a  number  of  years  ago,  were  anxious 
that  we  have  some  grade  Guernseys  as  well  as  grade  Holsteins  and  Jerseys, 
but  the  bull  did  not  increase  the  production  to  any  extent.  In  this  case  this 
heifer  produced  2  per  cent  less  pounds  of  butter  fat  than  did'  the  scrub  cow. 

Here  we  have  the  next  generation  from  this  same  foundation.  Here  is 
the  grand  dam.  You  have  just  seen  the  dam.  The  dam  produced  a  little 
less  than  the  scrub  grand  dam  of  this  heifer,  but  this  heifer  produced  as  a 
two-year-old  435  pounds  of  butter  fat,  and  she  is  a  good  type  grade  Guernsey 
heifer.  There  you  have  the  story.  There  is  just  the  one  link  between.  This 
link  comes  between  no  increase,  in  fact  a  slight  decrease,  and  then  this  big 
increase  in  production. 

We  might  go  farther  in  regard  to  that,  but  it  is  not  necessary,  and  the 
statements  I  make  relative  to  the  records  apply  to  all  breeds,  but  I  do  want 
to  give  you,  if  I  may,  just  a  statement  relative  to  the  summary,  where  we 
took  all  the  scrub  cows,  took  all  the  scrub  daughters  and  took  all  of  the 
granddaughters,  or  the  three-quarter-blood  heifers,  grade  Holsteins,  grade 
Jerseys  and  grade  Guernseys.  All  the  scrub  cows  that  came  to  the  experi- 
ment station  averaged  3,900  pounds  of  milk  and  185  pounds  of  butter  fat. 
The  half-bloods  or  daughters  out  of  those  cows  bred  by  pure  bred  sires, 
produced  5,619  pounds  of  milk  and  261  pounds  of  butter  fat,  an  increase  of 
44  per  cent  in  milk  and  41  per  cent  in  butter  fat.  The  next  generation,  the 
three-quarter-bloods,  produced'  8.507  pounds  of  milk,  that  is  the  second 
generation  grades,  and  379  pounds  of  butter  fat,  or  an  increase  of  these 
granddaughters  over  the  granddams  of  117  per  cent  in  milk  and  105  per  cent 
in  butter  fat.  So  we  have  that  increase  brought  about  in  that  short  time. 

HOW    FEEDING    INCREASES    PROFIT. 

So  much  for  the  weeding  and  breeding.  Just  a  few  words  in  regard  to 
the  feeding.  It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  loss  in  con- 
nection with  feeding  our  dairy  herds  on  the  farm  is  the  fact  that  too  many 
people  feed  all  cows  alike  regardless  of  production. 

In  one  of  our  Iowa  herds  a  couple  of  years  ago  the  cow  tester  in  checking 
up  the  work  at  the  end  of  the  month  of  December  found  a  man  who  had 
milked  ten  cows  for  that  month,  had  received  a  profit,  or  rather  a  net  income 
over  cost  of  feed  of  $2.47.  In  other  words  he  had  milked  and  cared  for  these 
ten  cows  for  the  full  month  of  December  and  received  in  return  a  net  income 
of  24  cents  per  cow.  The  cow  tester  knew  that  the  man  was  not  dairying 
simply  because  he  loved  the  cows.  He  knew  the  man  wanted  the  cows  to 
keep  him  rather  than  he  keep  the  cows.  We  have  too  many  people  keeping 
cows  instead  of  the  cows  keeping  them.  The  cow  tester  suggested  that  the 
farmer  change  the  method  of  feeding,  that  they  start  feeding  the  cows  in 
proportion  to  production.  He  suggested  that  they  start  grinding  the  corn 
and  oats,  and  he  suggested  that  they  feed  a  little  better  roughage  than  they 
had  been  feeding.  So  they  made  these  changes  in  the  ration,  and  for  the 
month  of  January,  with  the  same  ten  cows,  none  of  them  had  freshened  in 


156 

the  meantime,  the  same  cows  returned  a  net  income  of  over  $47,  as  com- 
pared with  $2.47  for  the  month  previous  when  butter  was  two  cents  per 
pound  more. 

So  we  find  many  illustrations  along  that  line  which  show  that  one  of 
the  greatest  losses  of  our  feeding  comes  through  the  feeding  of  all  cows 
alike,  regardless  of  production.  We  find  we  must  feed  the  animals  for  main- 
tenance plus  the  production,  because  the  dairy  cow  is  a  small  manufacturing 
plant.  We  don't  want  to  feed  the  inferior  machine  twice  as  much  as  it  needs 
and  thereby  waste  50  ner  cent,  and  the  good  machine  must  have  that  which 
she  can  handle  most  efficiently  and  economically.  So  we  find  if  we  feed 
about  one  pound  of  grain  to  each  three  or  four  pounds  of  milk  produced  we 
get  much  better  returns  from  the  dairy  cows  that  are  milked  in  this  state 
and  ours,  and  throughout  the  country.  Feeding  in  proportion  to  production 
is  all  important.  You  find  if  you  travel  from  coast  to  coast  very  few  feeds 
are  used  out  on  the  Pacific  coast  that  are  used  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  but  you 
will  find  the  same  principles  apply.  You  will  find  the  same  characteristics 
and  you  will  find  the  feeds  must  be  palatable,  you  find  that  the  cost  of  feed 
must  be  emphasized,  you  find  the  effect  of  feed  upon  the  system  must  be 
given  cajeful  consideration  if  we  are  going  to  get  returns.  We  find  a  ration 
of  about  four  parts  of  corn  to  about  three  parts  of  ground  oats  and  two  parts 
oil  meal  or  cottonseed  meal  used  in  connection  with  your  corn  silage,  your 
clover  or  alfalfa,  and  fed  about  one  pound  of  the  grain  mixture  to  each  three 
or  four  pounds  of  milk  will  give  good  returns. 

ji 

THE    QUESTION    OF    HEALTH. 

There  are  just  one  or  two  other  points  I  wish  to  bring  out  in  conclusion. 
I  do  not  want  to  bore  you  to  death  with  rambling  remarks.  We  find  that  not 
only  must  we  consider  the  breeding,  the  weeding  out  and  the  feeding,  but 
•we  also  have  the  question  of  health  to  consider.  We  are  all  on  about  the 
same  basis.  We  have  the  federal  accredited  herd  system  that  is  coming  into 
more  popular  favor  throughout  the  country.  People  are  coming  to  realize 
the  advantages  of  having  the  herds  federally  accredited,  and  put  upon  the 
basis  where  they  know  the  animals  have  been  tested  by  competent  veteri- 
narians. We  find  that  not  only  must  we  eliminate  the  tuberculosis  in  the 
herds,  but  we  must  pay  attention  to  abortion  and  other  troubles.  We  find 
that  a  business  dairyman  who  takes  sanitary  measures,  who  is  careful  in 
isolating  animals  which  had  just  been  brought  in  the  herd,  who  tests  his 
herd,  has  very  little  trouble  along  these  lines.  We  realize  that  this  is  some- 
thing that  must  be  given  consideration  whenever  animals  are  brought  into 
the  herd,  and  must  be  carefully  considered  in  connection  with  the  manage- 
ment of  that  herd. 

In  addition  to  these  points  there  are  some  things  that  affect  the  pro- 
duction materially  other  than  feeding.  We  realize  proper  milking  of  the 
cows  has  much  to  do  with  the  production.  A  man  might  have  an  expert 
feeder,  the  best  in  the  country,  and  yet  put  a  poor  milker  on  the  job  and  his 
cows  won't  produce  what  they  should.  The  cows  must  be  properly  milked  if 
they  are  going  to  keep  up  the  production  through  a  period  of  time. 

Then  we  find  in  the  summer  time  a  great  many  cows  decline  in  the  milk 
flow  because  they  are  forced  to  contend  with  the  heat  and  to  fight  the  flies. 
We  find  the  successful  dairy  farmers  all  over  this  country  are  paying  atten- 
tion to  giving  the  cows  some  protection  from  the  heat  and  flies  in  the  sum- 
mer. There  are  many  ways  of  doing  this,  therefore  they  are  getting  better 
returns  from  the  feed  consumed  by  those  cows. 

We  find  regularity  in  feeding  and  regularity  in  milking  are  emphasized 
by  successful  dairy  farmers. 

Then  there  is  the  matter  of  kindness.  We  find  some  farmers  who  become 
irritated  very  easily  and  quickly,  who  curry  the  cows  with  the  milk  stool 
instead  of  the  curry  comb  and  brushes.  We  find  those  people  seldom  stay  in 
the  business  very  long  or  seldom  are  successful.  We  find  the  dairy  cow  must 
be  treated  kindly,  must  be  handled  in  an  efficient,  quiet  manner,  if  we  are 
going  to  get  the  best  results.  There  is  no  hocus-pocus  or  slight-of-hand  trick 


156 


Scrub    cow    63,    dam    of 
half-blood   Jersey   213. 

Average  Production: 
5259  Ibs.  milk 
234  Ibs.  fat 


Half-blood     Jersey     213 
out  of  53  and  dam 

of  398. 


Average  Production 
4275  Ibs.  milk 
226  Ibs.  fat 


Increase  over  dam 
19%   in  milk 
3%   in  fat 


Three-quarters    blood 

Jersey    398,    out 

of    213. 

Average   Production: 
6723   Ibs.  milk 
371  Ibs.  fat 

Increase  over  grand-dam 
28%    in  milk 
59%   in  fat 


15? 

about  successful  dairy  farming  if  you  will  follow  the  business  methods  in  the 
selection,  in  the  feeding,  in  guarding  the  health  and  in  marketing  the  dairy 
products. 

As  I  look  over  this  crowd,  while  I  am  not  a  mind  reader,  I  think  I  can 
tell  what  thought  is  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  each  and  every  individual 
here.  I  think  you  are  all  wondering  right  now,  as  did  a  young  lady  who 
visited  our  dairy  farm  not  long  ago.  This  young  lady  evidently  had  not 
been  raised  upon  a  farm,  especially  on  a  dairy  farm.  She  knew  little  about 
the  operation  of  milking.  She  walked  around,  she  sized  up  some  of  the 
boys  who  were  milking  the  cows,  and  finally  she  said,  "I  can  see  it  is  a 
simple  process,  I  can  see  how  it  is  done,  but  tell  me,  how  do  you  shut  it  off?" 
[Laughter.] 

I  assure  you  I  have  enjoyed  meeting  with  you.  In  case  there  are  any 
questions  on  the  feeding  that  I  can  answer  I  will  be  glad  to  attempt  it.  If 
I  can't,  probably  there  are  some  successful  farmers  who  can.  I  thank  you. 
[Applause.] 

Q.  How  about  grinding  the  corn  for  dairy  cows?  What  would  be  the 
value  in  that? 

PROF.  KILDEE:  In  regard  to  the  preparation  of  corn  for  dairy  cows. 
We  find  it  does  pay  to  crack  the  corn.  We  find  it  profitable,  even  at  the  pres- 
ent prices  of  your  corn  and  labor,  to  prepare  it  in  that  way,  if  the  dairy  cows 
produce  milk.  On  the  other  hand  we  found  that  dairy  calves,  from  the  time 
they  started  eating  grain  up  to  the  time  they  come  into  production,  in  the 
case  of  heifers,  they  prefer  and  give  better  returns  from  the  shelled  corn 
than  they  do  from  the  ground  corn.  In  the  case  of  the  dairy  cow  we  found 
the  best  results  from  the  cracked  corn. 

Q.  In  northern  Illinois  and  southern  Wisconsin,  the  great  dairy  states 
of  this  country,  there  is  a  great  amount  of  milking  machines.  It  is  said  that 
the  farmers  are  having  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  there  in  cleaning  the  milk- 
ing tools,  and  if  they  are  not  improved  we  will  have  to  reject  the  milking 
machines.  I  want  to  ask  if  you  expect  the  time  to  come  when  milking  ma- 
chines will  be  perfected? 

PROF.  KILDEE:  I  would  answer  in  the  affirmative.  I  think  there  is 
no  question  but  that  the  milking  machine  is  a  factor  of  importance  where  we 
get  one  that  is  properly  constructed. 

Q.  Would  it  pay  at  the  present  price  of  oats  to  haul  it  to  town,  pay 
10  cents  a  bushel  to  have  it  ground,  and'  then  take  it  back  and  feed  it  to  the 
cattle? 

PROF.  KILDEE:  No,  at  the  present  prices  it  would  not  pay,  but  I  do 
think  that  a  small  feed  grinder  is  a  mighty  good  investment  upon  the  stock 
farm.  Where  you  don't  have  the  power  and  grinder  it  would  not  pay. 

Q.  Where  hay  is  not  plentiful  would  the  feeding  of  more  silage  be 
profitable? 

PROF.  KILDEE:     To  dairy  cattle? 

Q.     Yes. 

PROF.  KILDEE:  Yes,  sir.  I  believe  it  pays  to  feed  more  silage.  In 
fact  at  the  present  price  of  corn  many  of  our  farmers,  and  I  know  some  of 
the  Illinois  farmers,  are  refilling  their  silos  with  corn  fodder.  We  find  that 
the  silage  is  an  excellent  substitute  for  a  part  of  the  hay,  simply  an  increase 
in  the  silage  to  cover  the  dry  matter  required. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  I  think  there  is  no  question  but  what  the  dairy 
cow  is  the  most  wonderful  machinery  in  the  world,  the  most  wonderful 
manufacturing  plant  in  the  world.  What  does  she  manufacture?  Food; 
milk.  What  is  milk?  First,  it  is  lime  water.  Why?  Because  we  need  lime 
water  to  build  and  maintain  the  bony  structures.  We  need  lime  water  to 
preserve  the  proper  reactions  of  the  body.  We  need  lime  water  as  a  pro- 
tection against  some  of  the  things  which  injure  us.  And  now  they  are 
finding  when  cows  have  plenty  of  lime  water  they  take  care  of  that  germ 
of  "T.  B."  in  their  system,  take  care  of  it  there.  Then  the  animal  body  must 
have  the  proteins,  perfect  proteins,  proteins  which  build  every  part  of  the 
body  tissues  and  maintain  every  part  of  the  body  tissues.  I  don't  know 
of  any  more  perfect  protein  than  that  contained  in  milk.  Then  we  must 


158 

have  the  fuel,  those  things  which  we  must  burn.  That  is  what  milk  is, — 
bone  forming,  tissue  forming  and  maintaining,  and  energy  giving. 

Now  how  can  a  cow  make  those  things?  How  can  she  make  lime  water 
out  of  corn?  You  would  have  to  feed  a  ton  of  corn  to  get  a  pound  of  lime, 
or  she  would  have  to  eat  a  ton  of  alfalfa  to  get  150  pounds  of  lime.  So 
the  whole  thing  resolves  itself  largely  on  the  appropriate  use  we  make  of 
the  cow  in  her  manufacturing  work. 

Another  animal  is  the  beef  animal.  We  are  studying  economies  this 
morning,  economies  of  production.  Professor  Kildee  has  told  you  about  the 
economic  production  of  dairy  cows.  Now  we  want  to  know  something  about 
the  economic  production  of  the  beef  problem,  so  Professor  Cochel  will  treat 
on  economies  of  the  beef.  Professor  Cochel  is  from  the  American  Short- 
horn Breeders'  Association,  Kansas  City. 

ECONOMIES  IN  CATTLE  FEEDING. 
(Prof.  W.  A.  Cochel.) 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  past  year  has  not  been  a 
most  favorable  one  from  any  standpoint  to  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
production  of  beef,  and  especially  to  those  who  have  bought  cattle  and 
finished  them  for  market  purposes.  It  is  true  that  within  the  last  three  or 
four  months  a  few  of  the  cattle  bought  and  handled  have  been  very  profitable. 
There  is  no  need  of  us  attempting  to  apply  what  we  have  learned  in  the  past 
year  and  consider  that  as  a  standard  to  go  by  any  more  than  there  is  for 
any  other  group  of  people  to  take  the  worst  year  in  their  history  and  use 
that  as  a  means  of  measuring  all  the  other  years  that  they  have  to  operate. 

I  am  naturally  a  little  bit  of  an  optimist  on  the  cattle  business.  I 
think  that  we  have  decidedly  better  days  ahead  of  us  than  we  have  left  im- 
mediately behind,  and  that  this  is  no  time  for  those  of  us  who  have  spent 
our  entire  lives  in  the  production  of  beef  to  consider  that  the  beef  business, 
or  the  beef  industry  has  entirely  gone  to  pieces. 

There  are  three  or  four  things  which  we  should  consider  essential  when 
we  discuss  the  question  of  cattle  feeding,  cattle  breeding  or  cattle  manage- 
ment. Those  are  the  functions  which  cattle  are  supposed  to  perform  on  the 
farms  of  this  country.  The  first  big  job  which  cattle  have  on  the  farms  of 
the  United  States  is  to  furnish  a  market  for  our  grass,  our  pastures.  Some 
of  the  other  crops  which  we  can  grow,  and  do  grow,  we  can  market  (a  por- 
tion of  them  at  least)  in  their  original  form.  Those  of  us  who  are  interested 
in  the  production  of  grass,  who  own  land  that  we  keep  in  grass  and  in  pas- 
ture, can  find  no  other  market  for  the  grasses  that  grow  naturally  on  our 
soils  except  through  live  stock.  Throughout  a  large  section  of  the  United 
States  we  have  to  depend  upon  the  live  stock  industry  to  furnish  us  a  market 
for  the  one  big  crop  which  we  grow. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  been  the  matter  with  the  corn  market  during 
the  past  year  is  the  fact  that  there  has  not  been  a  sufficient  amount  of  live 
stock  produced  to  furnish  the  usual  market  for  corn  that  prevails  one  year 
after  another  throughout  the  Corn  Belt.  The  same  thing  is  true  with  the 
hay  market.  There  is  not  a  sufficient  number  of  breeding  cattle,  nor  of 
stock  cattle  in  the  United  States  today  to  consume  the  hay  which  we  are 
producing.  Week  before  last  I  was  out  on  the  western  slope  in  Colorado  and 
saw  as  fine  alfalfa  hay  as  I  ever  saw  in  my  life  offered  for  sale  at  two  dol- 
lars and  a  half  a  ton  in  the  stack.  That  was  in  a  community  where  they 
normally  handled  about  thirty-five  thousand  head  of  cattle.  This  year  in 
that  same  community  they  have  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  thousand,  and 
more  feed  than  they  have  produced  in  any  one  year  in  the  last  five.  Natural- 
ly those  men  are  looking  forward  to  increasing  their  live  stock  holdings, 
increasing  the  number  of  beef  cattle  they  have  on  their  lands,  in  order  that 
they  may  furnish  a  market  at  home  for  the  crops  that  they  produce.  They 
realize  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  ship  hay  out  of  that  community,  no 
matter  what  the  price,  because  in  that  particular  section  they  would  have 
to  haul  it  a  little  over  thirty  miles  before  they  would  get  to  the  first  rail- 


159 

road,  and  then  load  it  on  a  narrow-gauge  train  and  transfer  it  before  It 
really  started  to  market.  It  makes  but  little  difference  whether  alfalfa  hay 
is  worth  ten  dollars  a  ton  in  Illinois,  or  fifty  dollars  a  ton,  to  those  people 
simply  because  of  the  fact  that  the  expense  of  delivering  that  hay  to  you 
would  be  too  great.  The  only  hope  that  they  have  is  the  establishment  of 
herds  or  the  purchase  of  stock  cattle  to  consume  the  hay  that  is  produced  in 
that  community.  I  use  that  as  an  extreme  example  of  one  thing  which  live 
stock,  and  especially  beef  cattle,  are  supposed  to*  do  on  the  farms  of  the 
country. 

Handling  of  beef  cattle  gives  employment  to  men  in  a  rather  uniform 
way  throughout  the  year.  There  is  no  other  system  of  farming,  whether 
you  follow  it  in  Illinois  or  we  follow  it  in  Kansas,  or  in  any  other  section 
of  the  United  States,  where  the  same  number  of  men  can  be  consistently 
employed  on  a  farm  throughout  the  year  as  there  is  on  a  farm  which  is 
devoted  largely  to  the  growing  of  crops  in  the  summer  and  to  the  feeding 
of  the  same  crops  throughout  the  winter.  A  good  live  stock  farmer  who 
is  feeding,  developing  and  growing  beef  cattle  one  year  after  another,  who 
is  keeping  about  the  same  number  of  men  employed  in  the  summer  growing 
crops  as  he  does  in  the  winter  in  the  feeding  and  handling  of  his  live 
stock,  invariably  he  has  the  highest  class,  the  most  dependable  and  the 
most  valuable  farm  help  in  the  community. 

BETTER    CROPS    AND    BETTER    MARKETS. 

Handling  of  live  stock  in  that  way  serves  a  double  purpose, — it  gives 
us  a  market  not  only  for  the  crops  we  have  grown,  but  enables  us  to  em- 
ploy more  efficient  men  in  the  growing  and  development  of  those  crops, 
thus  not  only  reducing  cost  of  production  but  increasing  gross  returns. 

There  is  a  third  function  which  cattle  perform  on  a  good  many  farms 
of  the  country.  In  this  immediate  vicinity  the  land  may  be  so  rich  and 
so  productive  that  you  can  disregard  everything  else  and  simply  grow 
crops  continuously  one  year  after  another  without  any  particular  attention 
to  the  soil,  but  in  the  great  majority  of  farming  sections  of  the  United 
States,  one  of  the  big  functions  which  is  performed  by  beef  cattle  on  the 
farms  is  to  consume  the  feeds  that  we  have  grown  and  to  return  to  the 
soil  a  fertilizer  in  the  form  of  manure,  to  work  up  in  the  form  of  bedding 
the  straw,  and  the  other  things  which  we  produce  in  connection  with  grain 
growing,  and  thus  maintain  or  increase  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 

I  can  illustrate  that  very  nicely  on  the  little  piece  of  land  which  was 
bought  four  years  ago.  The  farm  was  about  as  uniform  a  soil  from  one 
one  end  to  the  other  as  you  can  usually  get.  During  the  past  season  this  land 
produced  eighty-one  bushels  of  corn  per  acre.  The  farm  which  is  immed- 
iately adjoining,  which  four  years  ago  was  considered  the  same  exactly, 
with  the  same  soil,  the  same  season,  the  same  opportunity  to  grow  crops, 
produced  a  little  over  forty  bushels  per  acre.  The  first  farm  is  handled 
as  a  livestock  farm,  all  crops  are  fed,  same  feed  purchased,  straw  and 
stalks  converted  into  manure  and  applied  to  the  land.  The  second  farm  is 
rented  for  grain  production  and  everything  marketed.  That  I  will  admit  is 
another  extreme  example  of  doubling  the  production  of  corn  on  the  land 
simply  because  of  the  fact  that  on  one  side  of  the  fence  live  stock  has 
been  kept,  manure  put  on  the  land,  and  the  other  side  continued  to  haul 
off  corn  as  it  has  been  farmed  for  the  last  thirty  years.  Frequently  the 
greatest  source  of  profit  in  livestock  feeding  comes  from  additional  yield 
per  acre  of  future  crops. 

I  never  knew  a  man  who  rented  a  feed  lot,  bought  his  cattle,  bought 
his  feed  and  tried  to  make  a  living  that  way,  who  eventually  did  not  go 
broke.  We  cannot  divorce  the  feeding  of  live  stock  from  the  production 
of  crops.  I  never  have  known  a  man  who  produced  good  beef  cattle,  owned 
pastures  on  which  they  grazed  during  the  summer  and  grew  the  feed  which 
they  consumed  during  the  winter,  who  did  not  prosper.  I  never  knew 
a  man  to  go  broke  following  that  system  in  the  production  of  beef.  The 
one  system  where  you  buy  cattle,  buy  corn  and  hire  labor  is  almost  a 


160 

certain  road  to  financial  destruction,  the  other  system  where  you  grow 
cattle,  grow  corn,  and  if  possible  grow  labor  along  with  it,  is  a  system  which 
is  bound  to  win. 

Cattle  perform  another  very  important  function  on  the  farm.  They 
furnish  us  a  market  for  feeds  which  would  otherwise  have  but  little  or  no 
commercial  value,  and  that  is  illustrated  in  this  way:  in  the  state  of 
Kansas,  where  this  year  we  have  an  abundance  of  feed,  more  feed  than  we 
have. cattle  to  consume  it  in  the  wintering  of  our  breeding  cattle,  there 
is  a  herd  of  forty-six  breeding  cows,  all  of  which  raised  calves  last  year 
and  which  are  being  wintered  this  year;  since  those  cattle  were  brought 
in  off  of  the  pastures  in  the  middle  of  November,  they  have  been  maintained 
entirely  on  the  residue  of  the  crops  which  have  been  marketed,  which  have 
been  grown  as  grain  crops.  Because  of  the  scarcity  of  live  stock  in  that 
immediate  community,  and  the  impossibility  of  selling  stalk  fields  and 
straw,  which  have  no  commercial  value,  those  cows  have  been  wintered 
up  until  the  present  day,  and  will  continue  until  the  first  of  March,  at  a 
cost  of  $156,  a  little  less  than  four  dollars  a  head  for  the  winter.  That 
compares  very  favorably  with  the  cost  of  nearly  twenty  dollars  a  head 
for  the  same  period  at  a  time  when  feeds  were  not  quite  so  abundant  as 
they  are  at  the  present.  I  use  that  to  illustrate  that  whenever  you  get 
into  a  community  where  live  stock  has  been  eliminated  almost  entirely 
from  the  system  of  farming  it  leaves  no  market  whatever  for  such  things 
as  cannot  be  marketed  in  their  original  form.  In  other  words,  where  there 
are  no  cattle  there  is  no  market  for  stalk  fields,  there  is  no  market  for 
straw,  there  is  no  market  for  damaged  hay,  if  a  long  distance  from  the 
railroads,  even  the  commercial  crops  suffer  for  lack  of  a  market. 

SAFE  AND  PROFITABLE   INVESTMENT. 

Cattle  fulfill  another  very  important  place.  If  anyone  is  in  such  finan- 
cial circumstances  that  they  have  a  surplus  of  wealth,  cattle  furnish  a 
very  good  place  in  which  to  invest  a  considerable  amount  of  money  and  to 
return  an  interest  on  your  investment.  At  present  cattle  paper,  which 
is  not  as  well  received  at  it  was  a  couple  of  years  ago,  is  demanding 
approximately  eight  per  cent  throughout  the  entire  United  States.  Nothing 
looks  safer  this  year  than  good  cattle  paper.  I  do  not  know  of  any  other 
way  in  which  money  can  be  invested  with  a  return  of  eight  percent  on  a 
safe  business  proposition.  That  is  one  function  which  beef  cattle  perform 
that  we  very  frequently  overlook. 

As  a  man  increases  his  land  holdings,  no  matter  how  profitable  the 
production  of  poultry,  hogs  or  dairy  products  may  be,  he  is  unable  to 
extend  his  business  in  proportion  to  his  extension  in  land.  A  man  can 
direct  and  operate  a  larger  farm,  a  larger  body  of  land,  he  can  handle, 
operate  and  direct  the  investment  of  a  larger  amount  of  capital  in  beef 
cattle  and  in  land  than  he  can  in  any  other  combination  that  I  know  of 
with  agriculture  as  its  basis. 

It  is  not  the  man  who  owns  the  largest  herd  of  cattle,  or  the  man 
who  feeds  the  largest  number  of  cattle,  that  is  usually  the  most  efficient 
cattle  man.  We  find  that  as  a  general  rule  a  comparatively  small  farmer 
who  can  look  after  his  own  herd,  who  can  personally  suprevise  the  feeding 
of  his  cattle  if  he  does  not  do  it  himself,  is  the  man  who  usually  is  most 
successful  in  the  development  of  a  beef  cattle  industry  in  the  community. 

That  is  illustrated  on  the  Kansas  City  market  very  nicely.  During  the 
past  year  I  happen  to  be  acquainted  personally  with  five  men  and  know  their 
herds  fairly  well,  who  at  one  time  or  another  during  the  year  placed  a  new 
top  on  the  Kansas  City  market;  first  in  June,  then  in  July,  la'er  in  August, 
and  finally  twice  in  November,  when  the  last  of  the  five  sold  a  carload  of 
Shorthorn  cattle  for  $12.75  per  hundred,  which  I  believe  was  the  highest 
price  paid  on  the  open  markets  in  the  United  States  for  cattle  during  the 
year  1921,  disregarding  show  cattle.  In  every  instance  the  cat'le  which  per- 
formed this  market  topping  'stunt',  as  we  call  it,  were  proiuced  and  fed 
on  the  farms  from  which  they  were  shipped.  There  was  never  an  expense 


161 

for  a  commission,  for  freight,  for  yardage,  or  a  trip  to  a  central  market  to 
buy  them;  there  was  nothing  charged  up  against  those  cattle  except  the 
maintenance  of  their  dams  and  the  feeds  that  had  been  used  in  growing  and 
preparing  them  for  market.  In  the  end  one  of  the  most  important  places 
where  we  can  look  for  a  more  economical  production  in  the  future  is  in 
the  elimination  of  expense  before  feeding  starts. 

Too  frequently  we  expect  some  man  in  Arizona  or  New  Mexico  to  breed 
a  calf  and  to  handle  him  until  weaning  time.  He  is  then  shipped  to  the 
Panhandle  of  Texas,  which  is  considered  a  growing  country  rather  than  a 
fattening  country,  where  he  remains  from  calfhood  until  he  is  ready  to 
fatten  on  grass.  When  he  is  a  two-year-old  or  three-year-old  he  is  shipped 
to  Kansas  or  Oklahoma  when  he  goes  on  our  long-grass  pastures  and  there 
matures  as  a  grass-fat  steer,  matures  into  such  condition  that  the  Corn  Belt 
feeder  will  buy  him  for  the  purpose  of  finishing  him  for  the  Chicago  market. 
He  goes  from  the  long-grass  pastures  into  the  feed  lots  and  from  there  to 
the  market.  Frequently  there  will  be  three  to  four  freight  bills,  one  to  two 
commission  charges,  and  the  shrink  which  accompanies  the  movement  of  an 
animal  from  one  section  of  the  Country  to  another  charged  up  against  the 
fat  steer  before  he  goes  to  the  market.  There  is  not  ten  percent  of  all  of 
the  beef  cattle  marketed  in  all  of  the  markets  of  the  United  States  which 
go  directly  from  the  farms  or  the  ranges  on  which  they  are  produced  to  the 
market  for  slaughter.  The  other  ninety  percent  have  changed  ownership 
and  have  changed  location,  frequently  a  very  radical  change  both  in  owner- 
ship and  location  from  one  to  three  times  before  they  finally  go  to  market 
as  finished  or  fattened  animals. 

The  beef  cattle  industry  has  not  been  in  such  condition  during  the  past 
year  or  two  that  it  could  afford  or  could  stand  three  or  four  profits  and  leave 
any  profit  to  the  man  who  finally  shipped  that  animal  to  market.  That  is 
one  of  the  greatest  problems  which  the  cattle  men  of  this  section  of  the 
country,  and  the  cattle  men  of  the  west  have  to  confront, — the  movement 
of  our  cattle  from  the  place  of  origin  to  the  final  place  where  they  are 
finished  for  market  with  a  minimum  expense. 

HOGS   ABE  NECESSABY  ADJUNCT. 

Any  man  who  expects  to  make  a  business  of  cattle  feeding  considers 
the  hog  in  connection  with  it.  We  usually  expect,  when  we  are  full-feeding 
steers,  to  get  about  two  pounds  of  pork  from  a  bushel  of  corn  fed  to  the 
cattle.  Occasionally  we  find  men  who  attempt  to  feed  cattle  without  hogs. 
Very  frequently  we  find  men  who  feed  their  cattle  in  such  manner  that  the 
hogs  can  get  but  very  little  of  the  by-products  from  the  feed  lots.  The  most 
economical  feed  lot  is  one  which  will  turn  out  the  greatest  amount  of  beef 
and  pork  combined  from  a  given  quantity  of  feed. 

The  main  factor  which  enters  into  the  economic  raising  of  cattle,  is 
to  sceure  animals  bred  for  the  purpose  of  making  beef,  animals  which  will 
make  a  profitable  growth  and  will  finish  readily.  Taking  all  of  our  cattle 
that  are  shipped  to  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  Omaha  and  Denver  and  the 
other  central  markets  of  the  country,  the  average  steer  that  is  three  years 
old  weighs  less  than  a  thousand  pounds  when  he  reaches  these  central 
markets.  This  means  that  we  have  produced  less  than  three  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  beef,  if  we  disregard  the  birth  w'eight  of  the  calf,  annually 
from  the  time  the  calf  is  born  until  he  finally  goes  to  market. 

PROPER  FEEDING  ESSENTIAL. 

A  well  bred  calf  properly  fed,  properly  grown  and  then  properly 
finished  for  market  will  reach  a  weight  of  a  thousand  pounds  when  he  is 
fifteen  months  old.  I  am  speaking  now  of  commercial  cattle.  Occasionally 
in  the  production  of  show  cattle  we  can  secure  a  weight  of  a  thousand  to 
eleven  hundred,  or  even  as  high  as  twelve  hundred  pounds  when  they 
are  twelve  months  of  age.  When  we  can  modify  our  methods  of  feeding 
and  management  in  such  manner  as  Ho  eliminate  from  eighteen  to  twenty- 
four  months  from  the  life  of  a  steer  and  still  send  him  to  market  at  the 


162 

same  weight,  it  seems  that  this  would  be  a  most  economical  process  for 
us  to  attempt. 

The  difficulty  which  we  have  had  in  the  past  in  getting  these  weights 
has  been  two  or  three  fold.  In  the  first  place  the  average  cattle  man  has 
felt  that  if  a  calf  weighed  as  much  in  the  spring  of  the  year  as  he  did  in 
the  fall  of  the  year  when  weaned  that  he  was  wintering  fairly  well.  It 
would  take  him  about  a  month  or  six  weeks  to  recover  after  he  was  turned 
out  on  grass.  The  result  is  that  he  only  had  about  three  and  a  half  to  four 
months  to  make  any  further  growth  the  second  summer  of  his  life.  He  is 
then  wintered  in  such  manner  that  he  would  not  make  any  gain  in  weight 
the  second  winter,  and  he  would  require  virtually  all  of  the  third  summer 
to  reach  a  condition  desirable  for  slaughter  as  a  grass-fat  animal. 

In  the  future  we  will  be  compelled  to  so  manage  and  so  handle  our  cattle 
that  they  cannot  only  make  growth  in  the  summer  period,  when  nature  gives 
them  the  most  ideal  conditions,  but  also  that  ideal  conditions  in  winter  may 
result  in  equally  satisfying  gains.  As  Professor  Kildee  said  a  few  minutes 
ago,  the  dairy  ration  is  corn,  clover,  alfalfa,  silage  and  hay.  The  basis  of  a 
beef  ration  is  the  same.  If  we  provide  our  cattle  with  an  abundance  of  good 
roughage  that  is  palatable,  wholesome  and  nutritious,  we  would  never 
expect  them  to  lose  anything  during  the  winter,  as  they  so  frequently  do. 
One  of  the  problems  which  we  have  before  us  is  to  devise  means  and  methods 
by  which  we  can  winter  our  cattle  economically  and  yet  in  such  a  manner 
that  they  will  make  a  normal  rate  of  growth  and  improve  in  condition  rather 
than  go  backward,  thus  eliminating  loss. 

PERMANENCY   WINS. 

There  are  times,  such  as  we  have  gone  through  just  recently,  where  there 
is  a  general  readjustment  in  values,  but  I  know  of  no  method  by  which  we 
can  anticipate  them,  or  any  method  by  which  we  can  avoid  them.  The  man 
who  goes  into  the  cattle  business  must  go  into  it  as  a  permanent  proposition. 
It  is  impossible  for  him  to  go  in  one  year  and  out  the  next  and'  attempt  to 
strike  a  good  market.  If  he  consistently  produces  beef  one  year  after  another 
he  will  find  in  the  end  that  there  is  no  better  market  for  his  grass,  there  is 
no  better  market  for  his  corn,  there  is  no  better  market  for  his  hay  and  the 
other  feeds  that  he  produces  on  his  farm  than  by  converting  them  into  meat. 
He  can  do  this  and  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil;  he  can  do  it  and  main- 
tain the  yield  of  his  crops,  and  if  he  is  so  situated  that  it  is  possible  for  him 
to  place  a  breeding  herd  on  his  lands  he  can  do  it  and  at  the  same  time 
build  up  the  quality  and  the  type,  and  the  breeding  and  selling  value  of  the 
cattle  which  he  produces. 

It  is  quite  noticeable  when  we  go  to  the  markets  of  the  country  to  buy 
feeding  cattle  that  we  have  very  great  difficulty  in  securing  cattle  of  the 
quality,  type  and  breeding  that  we  desire.  -Any  man  who  has  produced  the 
sort  of  a  calf  that  you  would  like  to  put  ihto  your  feed  lots  and'  finish  as  a 
yearling,  is  one  who  has  made  a  very  splendid  study  of  the  production  of 
beef,  and  has  produced  that  sort  of  a  calf  simply  because  of  the  fact  that  he 
wants  it  himself.  He  hasn't  produced  him  to  sell  as  a  feeder,  but  he  has 
produced  him  to  sell  as  a  fat  steer.  The  result  of  it  is  that  the  great  bulk 
of  the  cattle  that  are  produced'  in  the  pasture  sections  as  distinguished  from 
the  range  sections  of  the,  country  are  never  offered  to  you  as  feeders.  If  you 
want  that  class  of  cattle  you  will  have  to  produce  them. 

On  the  other  hand  there  is  an  opportunity  for  a  few  of  you  to  go  to  the 
range  section  of  the  country  and  buy  your  cattle  direct.  The  range  cattle 
man  is  looking  for  a  definite,  distinct  outlet  for  the  product  of  his  herd,  and 
he  is  looking  for  a  means  by  which  he  can  sell  his  cattle  at  a  little  bit  higher 
price,  by  which  he  can  get  a  little  more  profit  out  of  them  and  yet  deliver 
them  to  a  man  who  expects  to  eventually  feed  him  at  a  lower  price  than  he 
is  accustomed  to  pay.  I  think  we  are  working  at  a  system  of  that  sort 
throughout  the  entire  country.  It  is  going  to  mean  a  great  d'eal  both  to  the 


163 

cattle  feeder  who  is  not  in  the  position  to  produce  his  own  cattle,  and  to  the 
range  man  who  is  not  in  the  position  to  finish  the  cattle  of  his  own  produc- 
tion. 

LIVESTOCK   COMMUNITIES    RICHEST. 

When  you  consider  this  business  from  this  broad  viewpoint,  not  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  individual  feeder,  we  have  three  or  four  things  to  take 
into  consideration  which  indicate  what  we  may  expect  in  the  future.  If  we 
study  the  breeding,  development  and  the  handling  of  beef  cattle  we  find  that 
in  those  countries  which  have  been  in  this  business  for  the  longest  period  of 
time — take  the  British  Isles — land  is  much  more  productive  than  it  was 
when  it  was  originally  brought  under  cultivation.  If  we  study  the  situation 
in  this  country  we  find  that  beef  cattle  are  found  in  larger  proportions  in 
those  states  which  are  noted  for  their  agricultural  wealth  than  they  are  in 
those  states  which  are  noted  for  their  inability  to  produce  agricultural 
crops  profitably.  We  may  use  the  pure  bred  cattle  association  records  as  a 
method  of  illustrating  this  point.  There  are  more  beef  cattle  registered  from 
the  state  of  Iowa  and  from  the  state  of  Illinois,  the  two  states  which  are 
generally  recognized  as  having  the  richest  land  and  the  most  valuable  land 
of  any  states  in  the  Union,  than  there  are  from  any  other  two  states  in  the 
United  States.  We  find  that  there  are  more  cattle  registered  from  these  two 
states  in  proportion  to  their  area  than  there  are  in  proportion  to  the  areas 
of  any  other  states  in  the  Union.  This  indicates  that  as  the  country  develops 
and  the  land  increases  in  value  the  habit  of  producing  pure  bred  livestock, 
which  reflects  a  successful  production  of  beef  in  the  past,  increases. 

I  was  interested  in  a  study  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  Nodaway  county 
is  the  richest  county  which  we  have  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  It  is  the  only 
county,  I  believe,  in  that  state  in  which  land  ever  sold  for  agricultural 
purposes  alone  for  over  three  hundred  dollars  per  acre.  That  may  seem 
like  a  low  price  to  people  in  Illinois,  but  to  Missouri  it  looks  rather  excessive. 
Nodaway  county  produces  more  pure  bred  beef  cattle  in  proportion  to  its  area 
than  any  other  county  in  Missouri.  It  has  the  richest  soil  of  the  state. 

In  the  state  of  Kansas  we  find  exactly  the  same  thing  true.  Brown 
county  is  one  of  the  counties  in  Kansas  in  which  land  sold  for  agricultural 
purposes  for  three  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  or  above.  We  find'  that  in  Brown 
county  they  feed  more  cattle  in  proportion  to  the  area  than  in  any  other 
county  in  the  state.  We  find  that  Brown  county  registers  more  beef  cattle 
than  any  other  county  of  like  area  in  the  state  of  Kansas. 

The  point  I  am  trying  to  bring  out  here  is  that  through  a  series  of 
years  we  find  that  those  men  who  are  most  successful  in  the  handling  of 
their  land,  those  communities  that  are  most  successful  in  the  development 
of  their  land,  those  communities  in  which  land  registered  its  highest  value 
for  agricultural  purposes  are  communities  that  have  been  devoted  con- 
sistently one  year  after  another  to  the  production  of  livestock  and'  to  the 
feeding  of  them  out  on  the  farm.  By  producing  our  own  cattle,  producing 
our  feed,  finishing  our  cattle  for  market  thus  we  furnish  a  market  for  our 
crops,  we  furnish  a  market  for  our  labor,  we  furnish  fertility  for  our  soil, 
which  we  cannot  secure  in  any  other  manner.  Those  are  problems  which 
each  man  has  to  solve  for  himself.  But  we  cannot  expect  to  do  this  by 
handling  the  ordinary  class  of  cattle.  You  will  find  that  the  successful  man 
who  produces  his  own  livestock  is  the  man  that  uses  the  best  bulls  that  are 
used  in  that  community.  There  may  be  an  occasional  man  who  has  the 
ability  to  go  to  a  central  market  and  buy  cattle  cheap,  ship  them  home,  keep 
them  for  a  comparatively  short  period;  he  may  ship  them  back  to  market 
and  make  a  profit  on  them,  but  the  ordinary  man  never  made  a  profit  in  the 
production  of  that  kind  of  cattle.  , 

In  the  end  the  thing  we  want  to  do  is  to  get  on  a  safe  and  sound  basis 
where  we  will  produce  cattle  that  will  mature  early,  that  will  make  rapid 
gains  and  that  will  gell  to  advantage  when  finished, 


164 

WHAT  THE  MABKET  DEMANDS. 

We  have  gone  through  a  slight  change  in  the  class  of  cattle  that  the 
market  demands.  A  few  years  ago  the  most  marketable  cattle  we  had'  were 
cattle  that  weighed  from  fifteen  to  sixteen  hundred  pounds.  Today  the  most 
popular  cattle  we  have  on  the  market,  properly  finished,  are  cattle  that  weigh 
about  twelve  hundred  pounds.  During  the  past  year,  if  we  could  get  them 
finished  at  that  weight,  the  most  popular  cattle  we  had  going  on  the  markets 
of  the  country  were  those  that  weighed  about  eight  hundred  pounds.  I 
think  you  will  find  that  in  the  future  our  cattle  business  will  go  through 
the  same  process  of  evolution  that  the  hog  and  sheep  business  went  through. 
Originally  in  this  section  of  the  country  the  most  successful  hog  man  was 
the  man  who  could  send  to  Chicago  the  heaviest  hogs  that  were  produced 
in  the  county.  The  most  successful  sheep  man  was  the  man  that  would 
handle  the  heaviest  withers.  Today  the  most  successful  hog  man  you  have  is 
a  man  who  is  able  to  finish  his  hogs  at  weights  of  175  to  200  pounds;  your 
most  successful  sheep  man  is  the  man  who  can  produce  his  lambs  and  get 
them  on  the  market  in  prime  condition  weighing  under  80  pound's. 

Our  beef  cattle  are  going  through  the  same  process.  It  is  rare  that  we 
see  a  four  or  five  year  old  steer.  It  is  exceptional  to  see  a  three  year  old  steer 
in  our  feed  lots,  and  it  is  getting  to  be  a  common  custom  to  feed  yearlings. 
To  those  men  who  are  backing  the  feeding  of  yearlings  this  year  for  the  first 
time  I  will  say  that  in  the  end  the  most  successful  yearling  feeder  is  the  man 
who  makes  his  cattle  the  fattest.  A  yearling  may  be  the  most  disappointing 
individual  ever  shipped'  to  market  if  shipped  from  thirty  to  forty  days 
before  he  is  really  ripe.  They  do  not  ship  like  the  older  steers.  The  great 
bulk  of  men  who  have  tried  to  feed  yearlings,  tried  to  finish  them  for  market, 
have  become  discouraged.-  They  are  men  who  ship  them  from  thirty  to 
sixty  days  before  they  are  ripe.  There  is  more  money  lost  in  feeding  year- 
lings and  shipping  them  before  they  are  ready  than  in  any  other  way. 

FACTOBS    WHICH    SPELL    SUCCESS. 

I  have  talked  in  a  rather  rambling  manner.  I  think  I  can  sum  it  up, 
however,  in  a  comparatively  few  words,  and  will  try  to  do  so.  Success, 
which  means  practicing  of  the  greatest  economy,  is  dependent: 

First,  upon  the  ability  to  produce  feeds  which  beef  cattle  can  consume. 
If  you  can  produce  those  feeds  profitably  you  can  feed  them. 

Second,  upon  the  ability  to  produce  cattle  of  the  type  and  the  quality 
which  the  market  will  demand. 

Third,  upon  your  ability  of  putting  this  feed  into  the  cattle  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  will  make  the  greatest  use  of  it,  supplementing  it,  if 
necessary,  with  feeds  which  will  increase  the  efficiency  of  those  feeds  which 
you  have  produced. 

Fourth,  if  you  are  not  in  a  position  to  produce  the  cattle,  to  be  able  to 
go  to  the  market  and  buy  the  class  of  cattle  which  have  proven  the  most 
economical  for  you  to  handle  in  relation  to  the  feeds  which  you  have  pro- 
duced. 

In  this  way  you  will  get  a  maximum  production  from  your  soil,  you 
will  get  a  maximum  production  from  your  cattle,  and  through  a  series  of 
years  you  will  find  that  cattle  will  return  to  you  as  great  a  value  for  the 
feeds  you  have  produced  as  you  can  secure  in  any  other  manner.  That  in  the 
end  is  the  purpose  of  the  cattle — to  furnish  a  market  for  what  is  grown  on 
the  farm  and  at  the  same  time  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 

The  most  important  function  which  cattle  perform  in  any  community 
is  in  developing  a  permanent  system  of  farming.  A  man  cannot  go  out,  buy 
a  farm  and  put  on  cattle  and  get  through  with  it  and  consider  it  a  year's 
work.  It  is  the  work  of  a  lifetime.  It  is  the  work  of  maybe  the  lives  of 
two  or  three  generations  of  men  to  produce  the  kind  of  cattle  which  are  most 
desirable.  You  will  find  whenever  you  go  into  a  community  where  the 
breeding  and  production  of  livestock  has  been  the  major  industry  through 
a  series  of  years  there  the  people  are  permanently  attached  to  the  land. 
You  will  find  fathers  and  sons  follow  each  other  in  the  cattle  business.  By 


165 

this  method  they  build  up  In  the  community  a  farmer  citizenship  which  is 
the  most  desirable.  That  in  the  end  I  think  is  the  most  important  feature 
of  the  production  of  livestock  in  Illinois,  or  in  Missouri,  or  Kansas,  or  Iowa, 
or  any  other  state.  It  builds  up  a  better  class  of  citizens  than  you  can  build 
up  in  any  other  manner.  I  thank  you. 

Q.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  should  like  to  ask  a  question.  In  these  days  when 
oil  meal  is  so  high,  is  there  any  substitute? 

Prof.  COCHEL:  Well,  I  am  feeding  today  121  cattle.  I  am  feeding  them 
a  little  oil  meal,  but  not  nearly  as  much  as  when  it  was  comparatively 
cheaper.  I  was  very  fortunate,  however,  to  get  it  before  the  raise  in  price. 
It  cost  me,  delivered  on  the  farm,  thirty-six  dollars  a  ton.  I  am  feeding 
instead  of  two  pounds  a  day,  which  I  would  like  to  feed,  less  than  a  pound 
a  day.  Oil  meal  has  a  value  as  an  appetizer  and'  causes  cattle  to  consume 
a  little  bit  more  grain  and  mixed  roughage.  It  is  for  this  reason  I  like  to 
feed  a  little  to  them  almost  regardless  of  price. 

THE   NEAR   EASTERN    RELIEF. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  There  is  a  matter  I  should  like  to  speak  of  this 
morning,  if  you  will  pardon  me.  There  is  a  little  country  over  in  the  old 
world,  a  little  farming  country,  not  very  good  land,  not  very  good  farms, 
mostly  a  grazing  country,  a  country  that  has  been  devoted  to  that  form  of 
agriculture  as  far  back  as  history  goes.  This  little  country  lies  in  between 
Russia,  Persia  and  Turkey.  It  is  the  first  little  nation  to  establish  Chris- 
tianity as  a  national  church.  They  carried  the  flag  of  Christianity  all  through 
the  Dark  Ages,  and  still  carry  it.  They  belong  to  the  Aryan  race,  to  which 
we  belong,  but  are  considerably  mixed  in  their  racial  characters.  It  is  a 
good  example  of  what  people  have  done  in  the  past  when  hunger  drove  them 
to  war.  Whenever  Persia,  Turkey  or  Russia  became  hungry  they  ran  into 
this  little  agricultural  country,  took  away  the  food,  killed  off  the  men,  carried 
away  the  women  many  times,  notwithstanding  that  there  had  been  many 
agreements  to  regard  the  rights  of  that  little  country  by  the  nations  around 
it.  There  had  been  times  when  even  England  joined  in  that  agreement,  but 
whenever  the  people  around  this  country  became  hungry  they  resorted  to 
violence  on  this  little  country.  Even  since  the  great  war  Turkey  ran  in 
there,  killed  the  men,  carried  away  the  women  and  left  from  a  hundred  to  a 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  children.  Now  we  are  asked  in  this  country  that 
we  devote  some  of  the  surplus  food  we  have  to  support  these  children  for  a 
while.  We  are  doing  that  under  the  name  of  the  Near  Eastern  Relief. 

The  Near  Eastern  Relief  was  authorized  by  Congress,  the  only  institu- 
tion of  the  kind,  except  the  Red  Cross,  which  had  been  authorized  by 
Congress.  The  administration  expenses  are  borne  from  a  separate  fund, 
and  in  asking  the  farmers  of  Illinois  and  other  people  to  contribute  to  the 
support  of  these  children  it  means  that  a  dollar  given  or  a  bushel  of  corn 
given  reaches  those  children.  The  expenses  of  transportation,  the  expenses 
of  administration  are  not  taken  out  of  any  contribution  that  we  make. 

Now  they  have  nearly  a  car  of  corn  raised  in  Monmouth.  They  need  a 
little  more  corn  to  help  to  finish  that  car  from  the  farmers  and  people 
around  Monmouth.  They  are  raising  a  car  in  my  town  this  week.  I  don't 
know  whether  I  will  get  home  to  help  them  tomorrow  or  not.  I  hope  they 
will  have  it  done. 

This  is  a  case  where  the  farmer  can  eat  his  pie  and  have  it,  too.  They 
say  we  can't  eat  our  pie  and  have  it,  too,  but  our  speaker  last  night  told  you 
how  easy  it  was;  that,  if  we  give  away  a  bushel  df  corn  we  increase  the  rest 
of  the  corn  which  remains  far  beyond  the  value  of  that  one  bushel.  That 
is  a  case  where  we  can  eat  our  pie  and  have  it,  too.  Let  us  eat  some. 

REPORT    OF    COMMITTEE    ON    RESOLUTIONS. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  WTe  are  now  ready  for  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions.  You  all  have  a  vote.  Everybody  here  belongs  to  the 
Farmers'  Institute  and  has  a  vote.  If  there  is  any  resolution  that  you  don't 


166 

like  you  may  vote  against  it;  if  you  like  it,  vote  for  it.  Mr.  Abbott,  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN:  If  a  Rip  Van  Winkle 
had  been  asleep  for  twenty  years  and  woke  up  and  was  presented  with  the 
resolutions  that  have  come  before  your  committee  he  would  be  struck  with 
the  idea,  if  he  were  of  a  discriminating  mind,  that  we  just  passed  through  a 
great  crisis  in  the  matter  of  taxation  and  rates,  and  that  reduction  of 
expenses  was  uppermost  in  our  minds.  Practically  all  the  resolutions  that 
have  come  to  us  had  a  bearing  on  those  subjects.  Mr.  Vrooman  told  us  last 
night  that  any  thought,  any  idea  expressed  here  would  have  its  influence 
in  the  remotest  places  of  the  earth,  and  with  that  in  mind  we  have  a  few 
resolutions. 

I  will  explain  briefly  some  of  these  clauses  that  we  have  left  out.  You 
know  when  we  pay  our  taxes  we  pay  them  in  spring,  and  it  takes  a  whole 
year  for  those  taxes  to  be  expended.  Somebody  has  that  money  and  some- 
body may  draw  the  interest  on  it,  or  it  is  lying  in  the  bank.  It  has  been 
suggested,  and  I  think  it  is  a  good  plan,  that  we  have  the  privilege  of  paying 
our  taxes  twice  a  year,  once  in  the  spring  and  once  in  the  fall. 

TAXATION. 

Resolved,  That  we  favor  a  change  in  the  Illinois  Tax  Laws,  providing 

for  payment  of  taxes  in  equal  semi-annual  installments. 

Resolved,  That  we  oppose  a  Sales  Tax  Law  in  every  form  for  any 

purpose. 

Mr.  HURDMAN:  I  would  like  to  ask  the  gentleman  what  objection 
there  is  to  that  law. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  The  farmer  would  have  to  pay  a  tax  on  everything  he 
sells  and  he  would  have  to  pay  a  tax  on  everything  he  buys  from  the  mer- 
chant or  manufacturer.  They  would  have  added  the  tax  to  the  article  -and 
the  farmer  would  pay  that,  too.  The  farmer  cannot  add  it  to  what  he  has 
to  sell,  but  he  would  pay  it  coming  and  going,  both  ways. 

Mr.  HURDMAN:  If  I  understand  it,  the  basic  idea  of  the  Sales  Tax 
Law  is  that  the  producer  in  whatsoever  line  does  not  pay  the  initial  tax. 
The  man  that  raises  a  thousand  bushels  of  corn  and  sells  it  will  not  pay  a 
tax  on  that  corn;  the  man  that  produces  a  thousand  barrels  of  oil  will  not 
pay  the  tax  on  that  oil,  or  the  man  that  produces  a  thousand  tons  of  coal 
does  not  pay  the  tax  on  the  coal. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:     Aren't  they  dodging  the  tax,  then,  if  they  do  not  pay  it? 

Mr.  HURDMAN:  The  producer  in  whatsoever  line  is  not  taxed  the 
initial  tax. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  That  may  be  the  theory,  but  how  can  a  farmer  sell 
anything  but  what  they  take  the  tax  out  in  the  reduction  of  the  price  at 
which  he  sells?  He  can't  fix  the  price  of  the  commodity. 

Mr.  HURDMAN:  Does  that  not  depend  entirely  upon  whether  prices  are 
fixed,  as  they  are,  by  the  oil  seller  or  the  manufacturer?  Now,  if  oil  is 
selling  for  20  cents  a  gallon  and  the  tax  is  added  it  sells  for  21  cents.  If 
corn  sells  at  50  cents  a  bushel  and  the  tax  is  added  the  man  who  sells  it 
gets  49  cents. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  That  is  the  way  it  goes,  as  the  committee  found  it.  The 
farmer  would  be  the  man  that  would  bear  the  burden  of  the  tax. 

GOVERNMENT   ECONOMY. 

WHEREAS,  The  expense  of  local,  county,  state,  and  national  govern- 
ments is  increasing  at  an  alarming  rate — much  faster  than  the  ability 
of  the  people  to  pay  taxes — therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  demand  that  all  public  officers  exercise  the  utmost 
diligence  in  reducing  public  expense;  and  be  it  further 

Resolved,  That  we  condemn  the  creation  of  new  Boards  and  Com- 
missions, pensioning  and  paternalism  with  an  army  of  expensive 
deputies,  agents,  investigators,  inspectors,  and  non-essential  official 
parasites. 


167 

FREIGHT   RATES. 

WHEREAS,  It  is  unfair  to  expect  farmers  to  continue  to  pay  the 
present  excessive  freight  rates  with  farm  products  at  pre-war  levels; 
therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  demand  that  railroad  freight  rates  be  reduced 
at  once  to  a  level  corresponding  to  the  price  of  farm  products. 

LIVE  STOCK  MARKETING. 

Resolved,  That  we  heartily  endorse  the  plan  of  live  stock  marketing 
recommended  by  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  including  the  encouragement 
of  local  live  stock  shipping  associations,  the  establishment  of  farmer- 
owned  cooperative  live  stock  commission  companies,  and  such  method  of 
stabilizing  market  receipts  and  prices  as  may  be  found  practical. 

COMMUNITY   HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  The  Community  High  School  Law,  as  you  know,  is  a 
law  that  permits  cities  and  towns  to  vote  a  country  rural  district  into  a 
high  school  district.  It  has  been  in  operation  for  some  two  or  three  years, 
and  I  want  to  briefly  show  some  of  you  people  who  have  not  had  any  experi- 
ence with  it  and  are  not  familiar  with  it,  the  way  the  law  works  in  some 
instances. 

This  is  not  the  Township  High  School  Law;  this  is  the  Community 
Hieh  School  Law.  I  will  give  you  just  a  few  instances  of  some  real  things 
that  happened  in  the  county  in  which  I  live,  in  Whiteside  County.  Here  is  a 
little  town  in  the  center  of  the  township;  they  thought  they  would  form  a 
community  high  school  and  take  in  that  township.  They  ape  quite  a  ways 
from  the  railroad,  and  it  was  really  a  pretty  good  thing  with  them.  Over 
here  in  another  county  was  a  town  of  considerable  size  and  they  thought 
they  would  operate  under  this  law.  They  heard  these  people  were  going  to 
have  a  community  high  school,  and  they  said  the  folks  back  there  dated  their 
petition  one  day  back  so  they  could  have  an  election  one  day  before  these 
other  people  could.  What  did  they  do?  They  came  down  here  within  eighty 
rods  of  that  town  and  they  put  it  into  this  high  school  district  up  here 
eight  miles  away.  These  people  had  the  election  the  next  day  and  they 
got  this  little  territory  right  here,  and  these  folks  had  to  go  eight  miles  up 
to  that  other  town  in  another  county.  That  is  the  way  it  worked  there. 

Q.  Mr.  Speaker,  that  was  because  the  other  township  had  a  large  city 
in  it? 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  Yes,  sir.  They  had  the  larger  city  and  they  had  the 
election  first,  anyway. 

Q.     The  district  outside  of  it  did  not  have  votes  enough. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  No,  the  people  could  not  outvote  that  proposition.  It 
killed  that  little  school  practically.  Here  is  Rock  River  (illustrating  on 
blackboard),  here  is  Sterling,  here  is  Rock  Falls.  They  are  in  the  same 
congressional  district.  Sterling  has  a  good  high  school,  but  Sterling  and 
Rock  Falls  do  not  get  along  very  well  together,  so  Rock  Falls  sent  a  man 
down  to  the  legislature  and  he  got  a  bill  through  the  legislature  which  says 
that  where  a  township  is  separated  by  a  river  the  township  high  school 
law  does  not  apply.  These  people  did  not  want  to  send  their  children  across 
there  to  school,  a  half  mile,  to  one  of  the  best  high  schools  in  the  State,  so 
they  came  down  here,  fourteen  miles  away,  and  took  these  people  here  up 
into  their  school.  They  had  another  school  here  within  two  miles  of  them. 
That  was  this  community  high  school  law. 

Here  is  another  case.  Here  was  the  little  town  of  Erie  (illustrating  on 
blackboard),  here  is  the  county  line,  here  is  Hillsdale.  Now,  both  of  those 
folks  thought  they  would  have  the  community  high  school.  Erie  says: 
"We  are  going  to  take  Hillsdale  into  our  school."  Hillsdale  got  busy  and 
they  had  the  election  next  day,  the  day  before  the  Erie  folks  did.  They 
came  up  within  a  mile  of  Erie  and  took  all  of  this  into  their  school  district. 
Then  Erie  had  to  do  something,  you  know,  and  they  looked  away  over  here 


168 

to  the  northwest  sixteen  miles  and  got  people  into  their  school,  when  they 
were  nearer  three  other  high  schools  better  than  theirs.  A  gentleman  from 
this  town  told  me  last  Saturday  night  that  it  cost  that  town  a  thousand 
dollars  for  every  child  that  went  to  this  school,  and  there  is  no  building 
fund  there  either.  Now  they  are  outrageous,  that  is  all;  they  are  unfair. 

Here  was  the  town  of  Linden,  that  is  on  Rock  River,  too;  up  here  is  the 
town  of  Mount  Pleasant;  here  is  Morrison,  the  county  seat,  with  a  good 
school.  These  people  formed  a  community  high  school  district.  They  have 
about  sixteen  schools.  The  first  year  it  cost  five  hundred  dollars  for  each 
scholar.  There  is  a  hard  road  to  Morrison.  Here  is  a  man  living  here, 
nearer  Morrison  than  he  is  to  Linden,  right  on  the  township  line.  He  pays 
$115  tax  in  this  district.  He  sends  his  boy  to  Morrison,  where  they  have  a 
good  school.  He  pays  $95  tuition  to  go  to  Morrison.  Here  is  his  neighbor, 
right  across  the  road,  in  non-high  school  territory,  pays  $15. 

Weir,  I  could  go  on  enumerating  those  conditions.  Now,  we  want  to  be 
fair  and  reasonable.  We  know  that  the  city  high  schools  are  crowded,  they 
want  relief  in  some  way,  and  we  met  with  farmers,  with  the  business  people 
of  Morrison  last  Saturday  night  and  talked  the  matter  over.  They  were 
getting  ready  to  spring  a  consolidated  school  district  around  the  country 
there,  and  I  guess  they  would  have  been  outvoted.  We  told  them  that  we 
wanted  to  pay  for  the  education  of  our  children;  we  are  willing  to  do  that, 
wanted  to  do  it,  and  we  wondered  how  it  could  be  done.  They  said  that  our 
children  that  came  to  their  school,  paying  the  non-high  school  tax,  don't 
pay  enough.  That  is,  we  pay  for  the  maintaining  of  the  school,  for  the 
teaching,  but  they  have  got  to  have  a  building  and  they  want  relief  in  some 
way  for  the  building,  interest,  insurance,  and  everything  of  that  kind.  We 
suggested  to  them  an  amendment  of  this  non-high  school  tax,  in  which  the 
country  children,  instead  of  paying  one  rate,  as  they  do  now,  would  pay  a 
rate  and  a  hall  That  would  provide,  they  said,  ample  means  for  their 
buildings.  As  it  is  under  the  community  high  school  law  in  our  county  the 
farmers  pay  from  60  to  80  per  cent  of  the  tax,  and  they  send  from  20  to 
40  per  cent  of  the  children. 

We  have  a  resolution  along  that  line: 

WHEREAS,  The  farmers  of  Illinois  are  willing  to  pay  the  entire 
expenses  providing  country  children  with  the  best  possible  educa- 
tion; and, 

WHEREAS,  Because  of  the  fact  that  the  farmers'  property  investment 
in  proportion  to  his  income  is  much  heavier  than  the  average  city 
resident,  the  practical  effect  of  the  community  high  school  law  is  to 
compel  farmers  not  only  to  pay  for  the  education  of  their  own  children, 
but  to  contribute  a  substantial  sum  toward  the  education  of  town  and 
city  children  as  well;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  demand  the  repeal  of  the  law  referred  to  and 
the  substitution  of  tuition  laws  requiring  non-high  school  districts  to 
pay  a  rate  of  tuition  based  on  the  per  capita  operating  cost  of  maintain- 
ing these  schools,  including  proper  buildings  and  overhead  charges. 

COMMUNITY   PARK    LAWS. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  Here  is  something  new  which  has  come  down  the  line 
hitting  the  farmer,  called  the  Community  Park  Law.  A  city  wishes  to 
establish  a  park,  and  finding  they  do  not  have  quite  enough  money,  they  go 
out  and  take  in  a  rural  community,  take  in  a  township  or  two  or  three 
townships;  take  in  enough  territory  so  as  to  reduce  taxation  in  the  city 
quite  materially.  A  farmer  doesn't  have  as  much  necessity  for  a  park  as 
the  people  in  the  city  have;  possibly  he  has  woodlands  of  his  own,  at  least 
it  isn't  as  necessary  for  him  to  go  out  in  the  park  and  exercise. 

WHEREAS,  The  Community  Park  Law  makes  it  possible  for  the  cities 

and  villages  to  vote  farm  land  into  park  districts  without  the  consent 

of  the  owners,  taxing  it  for  the  purpose  and  maintenance  of  city  parks, 

which  are  of  little  or  no  value  to  the  farmers;  and, 


169 

WHEREAS,  We  regard  such  a  law  unfair  and  wrong  in  principle; 
therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  demand  that  this  law  be  repealed  at  the  next 
session  of  the  legislature. 

FOREIGN   CREDITS. 

Resolved,  That  the  State  Farmers'  Institute  urge  upon  Congress  the 
passage  without  delay  of  a  law  that  will  enable  us  to  sell  our  surplus 
crops  abroad  on  credit. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  That  is  along  the  line  of  Mr.  Vrooman's  talk  last  night. 
Resolved,  That  we  express  our  hearty  thanks  and  appreciation  of 
the  generous  and  courteous  welcome  and  treatment  accorded  the  Insti- 
tute by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Warren  County  Farm  Bureau, 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Warren  County  Farmers'  Institute,  the  local  news- 
papers, Monmouth  College  for  their  splendid  music,  the  church  and  the 
people  and  business  men  of  Monmouth  and  vicinity  for  the  hearty 
cooperation  and  active  assistance  in  making  the  twenty-seventh  annual 
meeting  such  a  splendid  success. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  That  completes  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions. It  is  signed  by  A.  N.  Abbott,  Frank  S.  Haynes,  George  A.  Switzer, 
E.  W.  Wilson,  and  C.  V.  Gregory. 

Mr.  President,  I  move  the  adoption  of  this  report  and  the  resolutions 
as  read. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  You  have  heard  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions.  Are  there  any  question? 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  The  motion  is  made  and  seconded  that  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  be  adopted.  All  in  favor  of  the 
motion  indicate  by  saying  "aye."  Opposed,  "no,"  The  motion  is  carried 
and  the  resolutions  are  unanimously  adopted. 


FRIDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION. 


February  24,  1922,  1:30  o'clock  P.  M. 
Solo Mrs.  Lois  Fowler  Getty 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  How  are  we  going  to  spend  our  money  when  we 
don't  have  it?  How  are  we  going  to  spend  it  when  we  have  plenty?  Miss 
Wardall  is  going  to  discuss  "The  Use  of  the  Income."  [Applause.] 

THE  USE  OF  THE  INCOME. 
(Miss  Ruth  A.  Wardall.) 

It  would  be  very  nice  if  I  could  tell  you  how  to  get  more  money  to  spend, 
but  that  is  not  my  business.  I  am  sure  that  you  have  some,  or  you  would 
not  be  here. 

It  is  rather  interesting,  when  we  stop  to  think  about  it,  that  so  much 
of  our  time  and  so  much  of  our  effort  goes  into  the  earning  of  our  income. 
We  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  getting  of  it,  and  as  I  often  say,  I  really 
think  we  should  give  our  incomes  the  respect  of  stopping  to  think  a  little 
about  how  we  are  going  to  use  them. 

The  use  of  the  income!  What  are  we  going  to  do  with  it?  That  is  the 
thing  that  does  not  claim  enough  of  our  attention.  Our  incomes,  I  think, 
are  worthy  of  some  thought.  They  will  certainly  accomplish  more  if  we  do 
think  about  them,  than  if  we  do  not  think  about  them. 

As  one  starts  a  discussion  of  the  income  people  will  begin  to  talk  about 
spending.  That  seems  to  be  the  thought  that  is  in  their  minds.  That  is  one 


170 

thing  to  do  with  money,  but  it  is  also  a  very  appropriate  thing  to  save  money, 
and  to  give  money.  We  can  at  least  spend  and  save  and  give  from  the  income 
that  we  have,  if  we  are  to  use  it.  Usually  in  speaking  of  the  income,  we 
have  in  mind  money — a  money  income. 

Let  us  consider  two  families  with  the  same  money  income — or  approxi- 
mately the  same — living  in  about  the  same  place,  and  having  the  same 
number  of  people  so  that  they  have  about  the  same  conditions  to  meet.  We 
find  one  family  that  is  very  comfortable,  they  seem  to  do  the  things  they 
want  to  do,  have  the  things  they  want,  and  on  the  whole  they  give  the  effect 
of  being  very  prosperous.  The  other  family  does  not  give  that  impression 
at  all.  They  seem  to  be  in  more  or  less  difficulty.  The  income  is  the  same. 
There  must  be  some  difference  in  the  way  they  use  it. 

I  think  sometimes  it  helps  us  a  little  bit  on  the  income  if  we  forget  our- 
selves and  look  at  our  neighbors.  You  know  we  can  tell  so  much  more  about 
our  neighbors  and  what  they  ought  to  do  than  we  can  about  ourselves,  so  if 
you  will  look  at  and  talk  about  Mr.  Smith  or  Mr.  Jones  and  their  families 
it  is  just  a  little  bit  easier. 

One  of  them  does  very  well  with  his  income  and'  one  does  very  poorly. 
The  fact  that  one  is  in  better  shape  than  the  other  when  the  income  is  the 
same,  as  I  say,  will  have  to  lead  us  to  conclude  that  one  of  them  uses  his 
income  better  than  the  other  one  uses  it.  That  ought  to  lead  us,  then,  to 
think  a  little  bit  about  ourselves,  and  about  the  possibility  of  our  being  able 
to  do  better. 

WHAT    SHALL   WE    DO    WITH    MONEY? 

How  should  we  use  our  income?  Well,  I  believe  that  your  income  should 
mean  to  you,  and  my  income  should  mean  to  me,  the  gaining  of  the  things 
that  you  want  and  that  I  want.  The  quarrel  that  I  have,  if  I  have  any 
quarrel,  is  with  those  of  us  who  do  not  know  what  we  are  spending  and 
cannot  really  say  whehter  or  not  we  are  getting  what  we  want.  The  money 
comes  and  the  money  goes,  and  we  have  the  feeling  in  some  way  that  we 
lack  some  of  the  things  that  we  want,  and  we  are  not  quite  satisfied,  and 
we  cannot  tell  how  we  have  spent  our  money.  We  have  no  right  to  feel  sorry 
for  ourselves — none  at  all.  We  ought  to  know  what  we  are  doing.  We  ought 
to  know  what  we  want,  and  we  ought  to  know  whether  or  not  we  are  using 
our  incomes  to  gain  the  thing  that  we  really  want.  Of  course,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  we  are  wanting  something  that  is  worth  while,  but  in  the  last 
analysis  your  income  ought  to  get  for  you,  as  far  as  possible,  the  thing  that 
you  want,  and  my  income  ought  to  bring  to  me  the  thing  that  I  want  if  I 
am  using  it  well. 

We  should  not  all  spend  alike  because  we  haven't  the  same  conditions 
to  meet.  We  should  not  all  save  alike;  in  fact,  desirable  as  saving  may  be, 
there  are  families  and  there  are  conditions  where  for  a  period  of  time  it  is 
perfectly  impossible  to  save  anything. 

Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  pass  through  a  year  without  saving  any- 
thing. It  is  a  very  unfortunate  thing  if  we  have  to  pass  through  many 
years  without  saving  something;  it  is  unfortunate  if  we  haven't  the  habit 
of  saving;  if  we  haven't  the  habit  of  distributing  our  expenses  in  such  a 
way  and  our  expenditures  in  such  a  way  that  we  may  have  money  to  spend 
all  the  while — but  it  is  fairly  concievable  that  there  are  times  when  it  is  not 
our  business  to  save,  it  is  our  business  to  spend'  for  we  haven't  enough  money 
to  do  anything  else  under  the  conditions  in  which  we  are  living.  In  general, 
one  should  save,  but  it  cannot  be  all  the  while. 

What  is,  then,  a  good  use  of  our  income?  People  frequently  talk  about 
necessities  and  there  are  certain  things  that  we  must  have.  For  instance, 
if  we  are  going  to  live  at  all  we  must  have  a  certain  amount  of  food,  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  clothing,  and  we  must  have  a  roof  over  our  heads  as  a 
shelter. 

Now,  if  we  have  an  income  which  will  give  the  food  which  is  necessary 
to  protect  us,  and  a  roof  over  our  heads,  we  can  then  begin  to  decide  what  we 
want.  In  other  words,  there  is  a  little  choice  left  us  after  the  bare  necessities 
are  secured.  We  have  come  beyond  the  primary  needs. 


171 

Of  course,  the  majority  of  the  people  to  whom  I  am  talking  this  after- 
noon are  not  limited  to  the  bare  necessities  and  the  minimum  of  living.  That 
is  perfectly  certain.  You  must  have  had  the  privilege  of  deciding  whether 
or  not  you  would  spend  your  money  to  come  up  to  the  farmers'  institute. 
If  you  did  not  have  the  money,  I  dare  say  you  would  not  be  here.  You 
people  to  whom  I  am  talking  this  afternoon  are  beyond  that  lower  level  of 
having  just  the  mere  necessities  of  life  and  you  are  all  exercising  some  choice 
with  regard  to  the  way  you  spend  your  income.  Some  people  after  providing 
for  the  necessary  food,  shelter  and  clothing  will  put  a  little  surplus,  if  they 
have  it,  into  more  food,  they  want  more  food.  Then  there  are  other  people 
to  whom  food  is  not  so  important  and  if  they  have  any  surplus  it  goes  for 
clothing.  There  are  other  people  who  would  rather  have  amusement,  so 
they  will  spend  the  extra  money  for  amusement. 

Now,  what  do  we  want?  Once  the  bare  necessities  as  we  outlined  them 
are  filled,  what  do  we  want?  More  food,  more  clothing,  more  shelter?  Do 
we  want  a  lot  of  amusement?  Do  we  want  education?  Do  we  want  travel? 
Do  we  want  books?  What  do  we  want?  We  must  have  some  of  these  things. 
We  cannot  have  all  of  them  unless  our  income  is  large.  We  cannot  have  a 
great  deal  of  all  of  them  unless  our  income  is  very  large.  What  do  we  want? 
This  is  where  I  think  we  have  made  a  very  great  mistake.  We  have  not  stop- 
ped to  think  what  the  possibilities  were  and  what  we  really  wanted.  We  have 
just  bought  this  thing  and  that  thing,  without  mapping  out  any  sort  of  pro- 
gram. 

That  is  not  really  a  very  intelligent  way  to  proceed.  We  don't  feel  very 
comfortable  about  it  if  we  just  stop  to  think.  It  is  what  I  call  a  lack  of 
respectful  attention  to  our  income.  We  really  haven't  given  it  the  thought 
that  we  should. 

OUB  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  INCOME. 

There  are  a  great  many  attitudes  toward  the  income,  and  it  is  important 
that  we  have  a  good  attitude.  There  are  a  good  many  people  who  have  what 
I  call  a  more  or  less  slipshod  attitude;  people  who  say:  "Oh,  well,  I  pay 
my  bills."  I  will  admit  it  is  very  good  to  pay  one's  bills;  one  is  much  more 
comfortable  if  the  bills  are  paid,  but  that  is  not  enough.  One  may  make  very 
unwise  expenditures  of  money,  and  one  may  do  very  foolish  things,  and  yet 
be  able  to  pay  the  bills. 

Then  there  is  another  group  of  people  that  are  both  hopeless  and  help- 
less. I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  pfcrdon  me  if  I  give  you  a  personal  experience. 
It  was  during  the  war  time,  when  the  war  savings  organization  was  very 
active.  I  happened  to  be  at  a  meeting  in  one  of  our  large  cities,  and  the 
speaker  of  the  day,  knowing  what  they  had  asked  me  to  talk  about,  said: 
"Miss  Wardall  is  here.  She  is  going  to  talk  to  you  about  planning  the  use 
of  your  income  and  about  the  budget.  Now,  it  can't  be  done.  I  tried  it,  and 
it  can't  be  done,  and  you  probably  know  it."  The  rest  of  them  shook  their 
heads  in  assent,  but  I  said:  "Well,  the  only  comfort  to  be  gotten  out  of  this 
situation  is  that  saying  a  thing  is  so  does  not  make  it  so."  Perhaps  he  could 
not  keep  track  of  his  finances,  but  I  knew  people  who  could,  and  I  thought 
I  had  just  as  good  reason  to  believe  the  people  who  could  as  the  people  who 
say  they  cannot. 

There  are  those  people  who  know  ahead'  of  time  that  they  cannot  do  it. 
Perhaps  they  are  the  sort  of  people  who  make  New  Year's  resolutions,  know- 
ing they  will  break  them.  It  is  difficult  to  do  much  with  people  like  that. 

There  is  another  type  of  person  who  says:  "I  am  just  as  economical  as 
I  can  be."  Well,  you  know  that  person  is  not,  but  he  is  a  very  self-righteous 
person — "just  as  economical  as  he  can  be."  He  is  not  at  all,  or  she  is  not 
at  all. 

Sometimes  people  have  the  feeling  that  because  they  don't  have  all  the 
money  they  want  and  don't  get  everything  they  want,  and  because  they  deny 
themselves,  that  they  are  very  economical.  They  may  be  the  most  extrav- 
agant people  on  earth,  and  that  sort  of  complacant,  self-righteous  attitude 
is  a  very  poor  one.  If  any  of  us  belong  in  that  category,  let's  get  out  of  it. 


172 

Then  there  is  the  person  who  says:  "I  have  no  time  to  look  after  those 
things.  I  am  too  busy.  I  cannot  stop  to  look  after  accounts  and  budgets." 

Recently  I  was  talking  with  a  very  dear  little  woman  I  know,  and  she 
said:  "I  don't  like  the  way  things  are  going  in  our  house.  My  husband  and 
I  are  rather  disturbed.  We  are  able  to  pay  our  bills,  but  we  are  not  getting 
where  we  should  with  our  income."  I  said  to  her:  "Have  you  kept  track 
of  the  money  that  you  spend?"  "Oh,  yes,"  she  said,  "I  have."  I  found  that 
she  had  not  learned  to  classify  her  figures  although  she  had  taken  pains  to 
keep  a  record  of  everything.  I  thought  I  would  try  her  out,  so  I  said: 
"Well,  with  your  three  children,"  (the  oldest  of  whom  was  four)  I  should 
think  you  would  be  a  pretty  busy  woman  to  do  this,  She  said:  "I  am  too 
busy  not  to  do  it."  A  pretty  good  answer  for  some  of  us,  if  we  are  too  busy! 
She  had  three  children,  had  no  help  with  the  housework,  did  her  sewing, 
and  yet  she  was  too  busy  not  to  look  after  the  household  expenses.  This 
little  woman  has  always  given  me  great  comfort. 

We  can  usually  do  the  things  we  want  to  do.  When  we  say  we  are  too 
busy,  it  is  often  because  we  want  to  excuse  ourselves  from  doing  something. 

Then,  of  course,  there  are  a  great  many  people  who  simply  like  to  be 
extravagant.  They  like  to  pay  big  prices  for  things. 

I  overheard  a  very  interesting  conversation  between  three  or  four  young 
men  not  very  long  ago.  They  were  sitting  just  opposite  me  on  the  train, 
and  it  appeared  from  the  conversation  that  they  had  been  exchanging 
neckties,  and  each  one  had  gotten  the  tie  that  he  preferred  out  of  the  group. 
Finally  one  of  the  boys  asked  another:  "Say,  what  did  you  pay  for  this 
necktie?"  When  found  that  the  boy  had  paid  less  for  the  necktie  than  he 
had  paid  for  his,  he  did  not  like  it  and  wanted  to  trade  back.  That  is  a 
good'  illustration.  It  was  nothing  in  the  world  but  the  cost.  The  tie  was 
very  nice  until  he  knew  how  much  it  cost,  or  that  it  had  cost  less  money  than 
his  own,  then  he  did  not  like  it  very  well. 

You  know,  we  are  all  very  much  alike.  Let's  admit  it,  and  let's  try  to 
overcome  that  fault  in  ourselves,  because  we  do  have  it. 

There  are  the  people  who  think  that  they  are  unfortunate  because  they 
haven't  the  means  to  keep  up  with  the  neighbors.  I  suppose  we  are  all 
influenced  by  that  to  a  greater  extent  than  we  appreciate,  perhaps,  but  that 
is  a  very  unfortunate  attitude  toward  the  income. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  what  should  be  our  attitude?  Where  should 
we  stand  on  this  matter  of  the  income?  One  safe  and  sensible  thing  is  to 
realize  that  incomes  are  different,  therefore  our  spending  our  saving  and'  our 
giving  should  be  different.  • 

To  the  best  of  our  ability,  our  incomes  should  express  our  best  judgment 
as  to  the  thing  that  is  worth  while,  the  thing  that  will  mean  the  most  to  us. 

ACCOUNTS   ARE   NECESSARY. 

Now,  I  am  going  to  say  something  that  I  always  hesitate  to  say  when  I 
am  talking  to  people,  because  there  are  so  many  people  who  don't  want  to 
hear  me  say  it.  You  will  have  to  keep  accounts.  There  is  no  other  way. 
Could  a  business  ever  run  without  accounts?  Can  a  household  run  without 
accounts?  Well,  not  run  well.  The  business  of  the  household  is  not  being 
taken  care  of  if  we  haven't  some  sort  of  an  account.  It  does  not  follow  that 
we  need  an  elaborate  system  of  bookkeeping,  but  we  must  have  something 
in  black  and  white.  There  must  be  some  accounts. 

I  know  people  who  keep  accounts,  and  who  have  kept  accounts,  and  who 
have  balanced  thier  accounts  to  a  penny.  These  people  are  very  painstaking 
and'  put  down  everything,  and  they  have  pages  upon  pages  of  figures  over  a 
number  of  years,  yet  these  accounts  are  not  worth  a  snap  of  the  finger  be- 
cause they  have  never  been  classified.  The  expenditures  have  never  been 
grouped  and  so  the  account  does  not  mean  a  thing.  Unless  we  can  group 
together  like  expenditures  so  that  we  can  get  some  idea  of  what  we  have 
been  spending  and  what  the  relation  of  that  is  to  the  income  as  a  whole,  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing  whether  we  approve  of  what  we  have  done  or  not. 


173 

We  must  classify  our  accounts.  I  am  quite  sure,  from  a  good  many  of 
the  things  that  I  have  been  hearing  and  seeing  fairly  recently,  that  there  are 
many  of  the  farmers  in  Illinois  that  are  doing  some  very  careful  cost  account- 
ing in  their  farming  business.  In  our  household  business  we  need  a  general 
accounting  system  which  is  not  so  detailed  as  this  farm  cost  accounting  that 
you  have  been  doing,  although  it  would  be  well  worth  while  at  times  if  we 
could  have  that  in  our  household. 

A  plan  for  the  spending  of  money  is  a  budget  and  we  need  that  for  our 
household.  We  need  a  budget  for  the  use  of  our  families  if  we  are  to  make 
the  most  rational  use  of  our  income.  The  most  helpful  thing  in  planning 
and  making  the  budget  is  our  own  set  of  figures  giving  information  as  to 
what  we  have  been  doing  with  money.  We  can  spend  the  same  amount  of 
money,  or  more,  or  less,  as  our  judgment  will  dictate  and  as  our  wish  directs 
us.  Every  once  in  a  while  someone  will  say:  "We  don't  have  figures;  we 
haven't  kept  accounts."  Well,  possibly  not,  but  even  with  people  who  have 
not  kept  accounts  the  stubs  of  the  check  book  will  tell  a  good  deal  and  you 
will  find  when  you  really  get  at  it  that  your  memory  will  help  you  a  good 
deal,  and  you  can  get  a  fair  picture  of  what  you  have  done  with  your  money 
in  1921  if  you  really  want  it — enough  to  give  you  a  pretty  good  idea  of  what 
you  think  you  would  like  to  do  in  1922. 

Very  frequently  we  find  in  the  articles  in  the  magazines  and  papers 
suggestions  for  the  spending  of  the  income,  and  we  find  a  certain  per  cent 
assigned  to  food,  a  certain  per  cent  to  clothing,  a  certain  per  cent  to  shelter, 
and  so  on.  These  estimates  have  some  value,  but  not  a  very  great  deal, 
because  twenty-five  per  cent  of  a  two  thousand  dollar  income  is  rather  a 
different  thing  from  twenty-five  per  cent  of  a  five  thousand  dollar  income, 
and  while  it  may  take  twenty-five  per  cent  of  a  two  thousand  dollar  income 
to  feed  a  family,  it  would  not  take  twenty-five  per  cent  of  a  five  thousand 
dollar  income  to  do  the  same  thing.  The  percentages  do  not  amount  to  very 
much  unless  we  know  the  family,  know  the  income,  and  know  all  of  the 
conditions  Therefore  let's  not  spend  too  much  time  looking  around  for 
figures  of  averages  of  what  other  people  have  done.  The  only  thing  we  really 
need  to  look  at  is  what  we  ourselves  have  done;  what  we  are  doing,  and 
arrive  at  an  idea  of  what  we  want  to  do. 

In  order  to  bring  our  expenditures  into  a  condition  where  we  can  classify 
them  and  analyze  them,  we  must,  of  course,  have  some  sort  of  a  system  of 
grouping  in  our  records.  In  business  suitable  headings  for  the  various 
departments  of  the  business  are  adopted.  So  in  the  household  appropriate 
grouping  of  expenses  should  make  it  possible  to  analyze  and  interpret  our 
expenditures.  Six  general  groups  are  suggested,  and  subdivisions  of  these 
groups  will  aid  in  the  keeping  and  interpretation  of  the  records.  I,  food; 
II,  clothing;  III,  shelter;  IV,  operating  expenses;  V,  general  expenses; 
VI,  savings  and  investments. 

If  we  will  classify  our  expenditures  for  our  family  and  for  our  household 
under  some  such  group  of  headings,  we  will  really  have  a  basis  for  intelli- 
gently tackling  the  problem  of  the  use  of  our  income. 

The  actual  division  of  the  income,  and  the  means  of  carrying  it  out, 
we  haven't  the  time  to  discuss  this  afternoon,  but  I  want  to  urge  the  neces- 
sity for  having  a  plan  or  budget. 

MAKING  THE  BUDGET. 

Who  will  make  the  budget?  One  man  said:  "That  is  a  fine  thing.  I 
am  going  to  go  home  and  tell  my  wife  to  make  a  budget."  You  know  the 
wife  could  not  make  the  budget  alone,  neither  could  he  make  it  alone.  The 
family  should  be  on  the  job  while  the  budget  is  being  made. 

I  know  husbands,  for  instance,  whose  wives  know  very  little  about 
their  business.  I  know  one  very  beautiful  woman  who  said  to  me  one  time: 
"Well,  I  don't  know  what  we  should  spend.  I  have  no  idea  what  my  hus- 
band's income  is.  I  don't  know  whether  I  am  extravagant  or  whether  I  am 
not.  How  can  I  know,  when  I  know  nothing  of  my  husband's  business?" 


in 

There  is  more  than  one  woman  who  is  in  just  that  situation.  No  man 
has  a  right  to  blame  the  wife  or  child  for  extravagance  when  that  wife  or 
child  has  no  notion  of  his  income.  That  is  a  perfectly  self-evident  fact.  How 
in  the  world  could  you  manage  a  business  if  you  didn't  know  how  much 
money  there  was  to  use. 

I  feel  very  keenly  that  it  is  necessary  for  the  wife  to  be  informed'  in 
regard  to  the  income,  for  it  is  her  business  to  spend  most  of  the  money  that 
is  spent  in  the  household.  She  must  buy  the  materials,  the  food,  and  most 
of  the  things  that  are  used  in  the  household. 

If  she  does  not  know  what  amount  of  money  is  available,  how  in  the 
world  can  we  expect  her  to  be  intelligent?  That  does  not  need  any  argument. 

I  want  to  make  the  same  plea  for  the  children.  I  am  often  interested, 
in  talking  to  a  group  of  people,  in  saying:  "How  many  give  allowances  to 
your  children?"  You  will  see.  several  hands  up.  Or  if  I  am  talking  with  an 
individual:  "Oh,  yes,  I  give  my  little  boy  or  girl  an  allowance."  "Well,  how 
much,  and  what  does  this  boy  or  girl  do  with  it?"  "Oh,  he  buys  lead  pencils, 
chewing  gum,  candy,  marbles  and  goes  to  the  movies."  Now  that  is  what 
most  people  who  give  money  to  their  children  expect  them  to  do.  The  only 
money  the  children  have  is  the  money  with  which  they  are  expected  to  do 
foolish  things. 

If  your  boy  or  girl  is  to  learn  to  spend  money,  he  must  be  made  to  buy 
things  that  are  necessary.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  young  boy  or  girl 
should  not  buy  their  shoes.  There  are  few  things  that  interest  children  as 
much  as  shoes.  Even  a  very  young  child'  will  say:  "See  my  new  shoes?" 
They  seem  to  have  a  tremendous  pride  in  their  new  shoes.  They  had  much 
better  be  taught  to  spend  money  for  a  useful  article  like  shoes  than  to  spend 
it  for  chewing  gum  and  candies.  It  does  not  make  very  much  difference 
how  much  the  allowance  is,  but  it  should  be  a  definite  sum  of  money  to  cover 
a  definite  set  of  expenses,  for  which  the  child  must  be  responsible.  For  the 
sake  of  the  interest  and  co-operation  of  the  children,  I  do  beg  that  they  be 
taken  into  the  family  confidence  with  regard  to  money  and  the  use  of  money. 

I  have  been  talking  about  money  all  the  while  in  connection  with  this 
family  income.  Now  I  want  to  just  call  our  attention  to  the  fact  that  there 
is  a  money  income,  but  that  is  not  the  sum  total  of  the  family  income, 
because  the  money  usually  represents  the  return  on  the  services  of  the 
father  in  his  business.  If  the  mother  is  putting  in  all  of  her  time,  she  is 
giving  a  great  deal  of  service.  Very  frequently  the  children  are  giving  a 
great  deal  of  service,  too,  so  in  the  total  income  we  must  include  all  these 
things.  For  the  purpose  of  analysis  we  have  been  discussing  money,  but 
that  does  not  begin  to  make  the  whole  of  the  income,  by  any  manner  of 
means. 

In  connection  with  children,  there  is  one  other  thing  that  it  seems  to  me 
we  may  well  think  about.  Much  is  being*  said  at  the  present  time  about 
inducements  to  children  for  saying  "Good  morning,"  or  "Thank  you,"  or  for 
brushing  their  teeth,  and  so  on.  They  are  given  a  penny  or  nickel  for  this. 
I  don't  know  how  you  feel,  but  I  have  very  strong  feelings  on  the  subject — 
that  money  is  no  fit  reward  for  doing  one's  d'uty.  I  believe  that  a  child 
should  not  be  paid  for  doing  right,  or  paid  for  doing  what  he  ought  to  do. 
[Applause.] 

But  hard  on  the  heels  of  that,  I  do  want  to  say  that  the  child  should 
have  a  straightforward,  out  and  out  money  allowance,  and  be  made  to  feel 
that  he  is  a  part  of  the  family,  that  he  shares  in  this  income,  and  that  he  has 
certain  responsibilities,  and  that  he  will  have  the  opportunity  of  learning  to 
assume  these  as  fast  as  his  years  will  permit.  That  I  really  would  like  to 
urge  very  earnestly. 

When  ready  to  make  your  budget  sit  down  some  evening  with  your 
wife  around  the  table,  and  if  there  are  older  children,  call  them  in.  It  will 
certainly  take  two  of  you  to  work  out  this  thing  of  how  much  you  are  spend- 
ing for  clothing,  food,  etc.,  and  how  much  you  think  you  will  want  to  spend 
in  the  future. 

The  lawyer,  the  physician  and  the  farmer  are  very  apt  to  say:  "Well, 
I  don't  know  what  my  income  is  going  to  be."  The  dentist  probably  will 


175 

say  he  doesn't  know  what  his  income  is  going  to  be.  He  doesn't  know  how 
many  people  are  going  to  pay  their  bills;  neither  does  the  doctor,  and  no 
business  man  knows  exactly  what  his  income  is  going  to  be,  although  he 
knows  more  about  it  now  than  he  did  in  former  years,  because  he  is  required 
to  pay  an  income  tax.  There  are  a  good  many  people  now  who  know  more 
about  their  incomes  than  they  knew  before.  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me 
there — so  we  have  a  little  more  information  than  we  would  have  had  a  few 
decades  ago.  Any  lawyer,  any  business  man,  any  farmer  knows  that  for  a 
period  of  years  there  is  a  level  below  which  his  income  does  not  go.  This 
lower  level,  then,  is  the  sum  of  money  to  use  in  making  a  plan,  or  a  budget. 
If  the  farmer  has  a  good  year,  and  he  sells  his  corn  more  profitably,  or  If 
the  sick  people  pay  the  physician  their  bills,  these  men  may  have  a  "plus" 
balance.  But  the  plus  balance  isn't  the  thing  that  disturbs  people — it  is  the 
minus  balance  that  disturbs  them.  Because  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  income 
we  cannot  excuse  ourselves  in  the  matter  of  making  a  budget.  We  will  take 
this  minimum  sum  and  we  will  block  out  the  proportion  it  seems  to  us  we 
want  to  spend  for  food,  for  clothing,  for  shelter,  and'  so  on.  We  will  put  it 
down  in  black  and  white  and  then  endeavor  to  work  according  to  plan. 

Another  thing — don't  feel  that  if  you  do  make  a  plan  and  later  change  it, 
that  it  was  not  good.  That  does  not  follow  at  all.  A  plan  is  not  an  iron- 
clad thing.  It  would  be  a  very  poor  thing  if  we  could'  not  change  it.  Don't 
feel  it  was  useless  to  make  it  because  you  had  to  change  it.  It  is  only  because 
we  have  something  down  before  us  in  black  and  white  that  we  appreciate 
the  fact  that  a  change  is  necessary,  and  therefore  we  decide  to  do  the  thing 
we  want  to  do.  It  gives  an  opportunity  for  deciding  what  we  most  want. 

Another  thing  that  frequently  bothers  people  when  they  attempt  to  keep 
accounts  or  work  on  a  budget,  is  balancing  the  accounts.  We  all  hear  about 
the  men  down  at  the  bank  who  stay  there  late  at  night  to  locate  a  penny. 
Fortunately,  it  doesn't  make  a  bit  of  difference  whether  your  household 
accounts  balance  or  not.  Of  course,  you  would  not  want  a  tremendous  differ- 
ence in  them,  but  suppose  they  don't  balance.  You  know  where  the  income 
has  gone  just  the  same.  If  you  are  a  few  dollars  off  in  your  balance,  it  does 
not  really  affect  the  value  of  your  budget  or  your  accounts. 

Another  thing  sometimes  bothers  people.  They  say:  "I  forget.  I  tried 
to  set  down  the  things  I  spent  today,  and  I  cannot  remember.  I  am  lacking 
fifty-nine  cents  and  I  cannot  remember  what  I  got."  You  know  a  very  com- 
forting thing  to  have  in  your  budget  is  a  column  with  the  heading,  "Un- 
accounted," and  when  you  forget  an  item  put  the  sum  in  that  column  and 
go  serenely  on  your  way.  That  was  so  comforting  to  me  that  I  Just  pass  it 
on  to  you.  And  don't  feel  that  because  you  have  a  few  dollars  at  the  end 
of  the  month  in  your  "Unaccounted"  column  that  the  accounts  are  a  failure, 
for  they  are  not.  You  will  have  the  big  plan.  I  have  discovered  that  while 
it  is  difficult  to  start  people  to  keeping  a  budget,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
stop  them.  The  comforting  thing  is  that  once  having  done  it  you  cannot 
stop  it  because  you  find  it  so  well  worth  while.  So  if  you  are  really  inter- 
ested in  getting  the  thing  you  want  out  of  your  income,  I  should  like  to  very 
earnestly  commend  to  you  a  plan  for  the  use  of  your  income  for  this  next 
year. 

PRESIDENT    MANN:     We  will  now  have  a  song  by  Buster  Patterson. 

Vocal  solo Buster  Patterson 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  No  one  has  had  a  greater  influence  in  the 
development  of  the  agriculture  of  the  State  in  the  last  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century;  no  one  has  had  a  greater  influence  in  the  development  of  the 
Farmers'  Institute;  no  one  has  had  a  greater  influence  in  directing  the 
energies  of  the  Farmers'  Institute  along  those  lines  necessary  for  it  to 
perform  its  best  function  than  our  next  speaker.  I  cannot  help  but  fre- 
quently think  of  him  in  connection  with  Simonides,  that  great  old  character 
in  Wallace's  "Ben  Hur,"  who  sat  in  his  chair  and  managed  the  commerce 
of  the  world;  not  that  he  moved  the  ship  or  loaded  the  cargoes,  but  that  his 
wisdom  extended  throughout  the  universal  world  and  directed  its  commerce. 
So  this  man  has  sat  in  his  chair  and  influenced  the  development  of  agricul- 
ture in  this  State,  just  as  old  Simonides  did  the  commerce  of  the  world  in 


176 


the  old  days.  Every  step,  every  forward  movement  in  this  State  along  the 
agricultural  line  has  been  influenced  by  the  wisdom  of  this  man.  This  is  not 
a  farewell  address.  It  is  true  this  man  is  to  leave  the  State,  and  in  a  way 
perhaps  it  is  a  farewell  address  in  his  official  capacity;  but  I  cannot  help 
but  believe  that  the  wisdom  of  this  man  is  going  to  be  extended  personally 
and  by  the  use  of  the  pen  for  many  years  to  come.  I  want  to  present  to  you 
now  Dean  Davenport — it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  mention  his  name  in  this 
connection — who  will  now  speak  to  us.  [Applause.] 


THE   ILLINOIS   FARMERS'   INSTITUTE   AND   ITS    JOB. 
(E.  Davenport.) 

It  is  now  considerably  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  since  the  Illinois 
Farmers'  Institute  entered  upon  one  of  the  most  useful  and  forward  looking 
programs  that  ever  engaged  the  activities  of  any  agricultural  organization. 

It  is  not  my  purpose 
to  attempt  a  review  of 
this  notable  service  to 
agriculture.  My  purpose  is 
rather  to  call  attention  to 
some  special  features  of 
this  work  as  they  have 
come  to  my  attention, 
partly  by  way  of  grateful 
acknowledgment  for  per- 
sonal and  official  assist- 
ance, but  more  especially 
to  call  attention  to  the 
kind  of  work  the  Farmers' 
Institute  is  especially  well 
prepared  to  undertake. 

I  am  the  more  encour- 
aged to  call  attention  to 
the  achievements  of  the 
Institute  in  the  past  and 
its  opportunities  for  serv- 
ice in  the  future  because 
the  question  is  sometimes 
asked:  "Why  do  we  need 
so  big  a  machine  for  so 
small  a  grist;  and  cannot 
somebody  else  hold  the 
institute  meetings  as  well 
as  the  State  Institute,  the 
Agricultural  College  or  the 
Department  of  Agriculture, 
for  example?" 

In  one  form  or  an- 
other I  have  been  asked 
this  question  many  times, 
and  I  have  always  an-' 
swered  in  effect  that  if  it 
is  only  the  county  insti- 
tute meetings  that  are  in  mind,  or  even  the  annual  state  meeting,  like  the 
present  great  gathering,  almost  any  public  agency  could  make  the  arrange- 
ments, hold  the  meetings,  and  run  off  the  programs  as  well  as  can  the  State 
Institute.  I  have  even  gone  further  and  said  that  if  we  had  nothing  in 
mind  but  public  meetings,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  College  could  beat  the 
Institute.  Indeed,  I  am  not  certain  but  that  the  State  Department  of 
Agriculture  could  beat  either  of  us— for  a  time. 


DEAN  DAVENPORT 


177 

UNSELFISH  PUBLIC   SERVICE. 

"For  a  time,"  I  say,  because  to  me  the  great  thing  about  the  Illinois 
Farmers'  Institute  is  not  the  meetings  held,  great  as  they  are,  whether 
county  or  state,  but  the  great  thing  about  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  is 
the  Institute  itself. 

This  is  what  I  mean:  It  matters  not  so  much  that  we  have  meetings 
and  programs,  or  even  that  the  meetings  and  programs  are  good.  What 
matters  is  that  the  programs  shall  include  subjects  and  ways  of  treatment 
that  represent  the  best  thought  of  the  most  progressive  farmers  of  the 
State,  not  only  in  certain  lines  of  agricultural  progress,  but  in  any  and  all 
lines,  especially  those  most  likely  to  be  overlooked  and  neglected  by  the 
other  organizations. 

For  example,  we  may  confidently  expect  that  the  Horticultural  Society 
will  look  after  the  affairs  of  horticulture,  especially  in  its  commercial  aspects. 
In  the  same  way  the  various  breed  associations  will  take  care  of  the  interests 
of  their  respective  breeds  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  swine.  The  Dairy 
Association  will  look  after  dairy  matters,  and  if  anything  is  overlooked  or 
falls  between,  it  would  seem  that  the  Grange,  or  the  Illinois  Agricultural 
Association  would  find  it. 

And  yet  every  one  of  these  organisations  has  a  rather  definite  program 
that  fully  occupies  its  time  and  attention,  especially  the  newest  of  all,  which 
is  really  the  federation  of  County  Farm  Bureaus  and  the  parent  extraordinary 
to  a  multitude  of  local  sub-organizations  for  the  attainment  of  ends  that  in 
general  fall  under  the  rather  broad  head  of  the  business  side  of  farming. 

Without  the  Farmers'  Institute  we  should  lack  an  open  forum  managed 
by  the  farmers  themselves  for  the  discussion  of  all  such  questions  as  may 
interest  them — not  somebody  else.  The  Institute  has  been  such  a  forum,  and 
as  long  as  Illinois  can  secure  such  management  of  what  shall  be  discussed 
from  that  forum  year  by  year  in  county  and  in  state  meetings,  and  get  all 
this  for  the  bare  cost  of  the  traveling  expenses  of  a  quarter  of  a  hundred 
representative  farmers — just  that  long  she  will  be  lucky  indeed. 

NO   FOOLISH   PROPAGANDA. 

It  is  therefore  not  so  much  that  we  have  one  hundred  and  two  county 
meetings  and  a  big  State  roundup  every  year,  but  rather  it  is  the  trails  that 
are  blazed  at  these  meetings  that  count,  and  it  speaks  well  of  this  manage- 
ment that  during  all  these  years  with  their  troublous  times  no  foolish 
propaganda  has  been  permitted,  and  no  extravagant  ground  has  ever  been 
taken. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  Institute  has  taken  some  exceedingly  advanced 
ground  with  regard  to  agricultural  progress,  and  it  is  that  to  which  I  would 
call  attention,  particularly  such  portions  of  this  service  as  have  come  under 
my  personal  observation  and  within  my  own  field  of  knowledge. 

For  example,  it  was  from  the  platform  of  the  Institute  that  the  cam- 
paign for  better  roads  was  originally  promulgated  and  shaped  up  gradually 
into  what  would  seem  feasible  procedure.  In  this  way  was  prejudice  turned 
into  intelligent  interest,  and  there  is  probably  no  better  example  of  what  can 
be  done  by  consistent  and  conservative  study  of  large  questions  in  ways  that 
are  really  constructive  and  publicly  understood. 

What  the  Institute  has  done  for  the  home  must  not  be  forgotten,  for 
some  of  the  earliest  and  best  suggestions  for  home  improvement  came 
through  its  publications.  Not  only  that,  but  the  Institute  afforded  the 
medium  whereby  pioneers  like  Mrs.  Dunlap,  Mrs.  Kedzie  Jones,  Professor 
Bevier  and  their  followers  have,  year  after  year,  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
reached  multitudes  with  the  gospel  of  better  homes.  But  it  is  within  the 
field  of  agriculture  that  I  would  more  particularly  speak. 

BIG   JOBS   WELL  DONE. 

The  first  great  job  undertaken  by  the  Institute  was  the  rejuvenation,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  the  reincarnation  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  at  the 
State  University.  The  Institute  was  hardly  out  of  its  swaddling  clothes 


178 

when  this  job  was  undertaken,  but  like  Minerva  of  old,  the  giant  was  born 
fully  matured,  as  events  proved,  and  through  its  medium  of  expression  and 
influence  the  farmers  of  the  State  made  not  only  their  wishes  but  also  the 
necessities  of  the  situation  known. 

It  was  a  purely  unselfish  service  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  public  and 
has  been  so  regarded.  There  were  other  agricultural  organizations,  and 
good  ones,  but  none  so  well  cut  out  for  this  particular  job  as  was  the  Farmers' 
Institute.  It  was  the  agency  by  which  public  opinion  was  crystallized  and 
expressed,  by  which  Amos  Moore,  James  H.  Cooledge,  S.  Noble  King,  Charles 
F.  Mills,  A.  P.  Grout,  N.  B.  Morrison,  Ralph  Allen,  Frank  I.  Mann  and  a 
host  of  others,  many  of  whom  have  long  since  gone  to  their  reward,  showed 
the  State  at  once  its  duty  and  its  opportunity. 

If  the  Institute  had  never  rendered  another  public  service  than  to 
function  as  the  means  of  providing  Illinois  with  a  real  College  of  Agriculture, 
it  would  have  fully  justified  its  existence. 

But  that  was  only  a  beginning.  A  real  study  of  Illinois  agriculture 
from  the  standpoint  of  science  and  of  progress  showed  at  once  the  place  that 
research  and  experimentation  must  take  in  the  scheme  of  State  development 
in  the  field  of  agriculture,  and  a  systematic  study  of  the  soils  of  the  State 
was  begun  under  the  special  patronage  and  support  and  advice  of  the 
Institute. 

It  was  many  years  ago  that  through  the  activities  and  at  the  solicitation 
of  the  Farmers'  Institute  the  State  Soil  Survey  was  begun,  and  it  has  con- 
tinued uninterrupted  ever  since.  It  is  at  once  the  most  thorough,  the  most 
exhaustive,  the  most  beneficial,  and  the  most  far  reaching  study  of  the  soil 
ever  entered  upon  by  any  state  or  any  nation  of  the  earth. 

INDEPENDENT  SELF  MANAGEMENT  ESSENTIAL. 

This  is  my  answer  to  the  question  whether  or  not  the  University  could 
conduct  the  institutes  better  than  the  Institute.  The  institutes  with  a 
little  "I"  are  meetings,  and  almost  anybody  could  conduct  them  if  he  could 
get  people  to  attend.  But  the  Institute  with  a  big  "I"  is  an  institution,  and 
it  cannot  be  "conducted,"  or  "held,"  or  otherwise  managed  except  by  itself. 
To  attempt  to  put  any  one  of  its  creatures  over  it  is  to  destroy  it.  Nor  must 
we  mistake  the  shadow  for  the  substance  by  assuming  that  when  we  have 
attended  an  institute  meeting  we  have  seen  the  Institute. 

The  institute  as  a  meeting  is  good  or  bad  according  as  the  immediate 
officers  were  wise  or  unwise  in  choosing  topics,  the  speakers  in  treating 
them,  and  the  attendance  in  giving  real  attention  to  the  subjects  under 
discussion.  But  the  Institute  as  an  institution  is  as  good  as  the  men  that 
make  it,  and  as  long  as  the  best  men  will  volunteer  into  its  service  for  their 
expenses  only  and  will  give  it  the  best  of  their  thought,  just  so  long  will  it 
be  our  most  elastic  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  powerful  single  agent  of 
progress,  especially  along  lines  likely  to  be  neglected  by  leading  and  direct 
commercial  interests. 

For  example:  Out  of  the  survey  and  the  experiments  in  the  behavior 
of  our  different  soil  types  has  grown  the  idea  of  a  System  of  Permanent 
Agriculture.  Some  have  called  it  the  "Hopkins  System,"  because  that  great 
man  was  practically  the  inventor,  as  he  was  also  its  most  ardent  and  able 
exponent."  Some  have  called  it  the  "Illinois  System,"  because  it  was  worked 
out  in  Illinois  and  the  details  have  been  so  widely  criticized  elsewhere. 

It  might  be  called  the  Common  Sense  System,  because  it  stands  to  reason 
that  we  must  put  back  as  much  as  we  take  off  if  our  successors  are  to 
maintain  themselves.  It  might  be  called  the  Inevitable  System,  because  we 
shall  ail  be  forced  to  it,  the  only  question  being  whether  it  shall  produce 
at  a  high  or  at  a  starvation  rate. 

It  might  be  called  the  Farmers'  Institute  System,  because  that  has  been 
the  popular  agency  that  has  sustained  it  all  these  years,  and  given  it  a 
hearing  and  a  sympathetic  trial. 

Whatever  it  may  or  may  not  be  called — and  what's  in  a  name  after  all? 
— the  thing  is  with  us  to  stay.  What  is  Illinois  going  to  do  with  her  soils? 
is  a  question  that  the  Farmers'  Institute  has  asked,  not  only  through  the 
researches  of  the  Experiment  Station,  which  it  helped  to  endow,  but  by  Its 


179 

own  activities,  its  own  discussions,   and   indeed   its   own  convictions   that 
questions  of  fertility  do  not  solve  themselves. 

Yes,  the  question  is  with  us  to  stay.  Our  great  leader,  Dr.  Hopkins,  is 
gone.  Peace  be  to  his  ashes;  his  memory  is  ever  green  with  us,  but  let  his 
findings  and  the  deliberations  of  the  Farmers'  Institute  be  not  forgot. 

IMPORTANT   WORK   AHEAD. 

To  this  great  work  the  Farmers'  Institute  is  called,  as  much  as  any 
body  of  men  was  ever  called  to  any  great  service,  and  I  fervently  hope  that 
while  it  heeds  the  call  and  follows  it,  no  man  will  ask  the  question  whether 
some  other  body  or  agency  could  not  do  its  work  more  cheaply.  The  thing 
that  the  Farmers'  Institute  has  begun  and  can  continue  is  what  will  stand 
between  Illinois  and  the  decadence  that  has  threatened  every  civilization 
on  earth  and  that  has  overtaken  and  destroyed  most  of  them  that  have  stood 
for  any  considerable  period  of  'years. 

Our  fertility  and  its  preservation  is  not  the  only  great  question  that 
awaits  the  good  offices  of  the  Farmers'  Institute.  Illinois  should  speedily 
enter  upon  a  home  building  era  such  as  the  agricultural  world  has  never 
seen.  The  time  has  come  now  when  the  country  home  can  be  a  thing  of 
comfort.  We  should  not  make  the  mistake  that  France  made  when  building 
her  permanent  homes  and  build  them  so  small  or  of  such  character  that 
they  cannot  be  equipped  with  modern  conveniences.  A  country  cannot  rebuild 
its  homes  every  generation.  Permanent  homes  should  be  built  in  the  youth 
of  a  country,  while  it  is  strong  and  rich  and  before  it  becomes  over  popu- 
lated from  expending  all  its  strength  in  numbers. 

All  this  means  many  problems  for  a  State  like  Illinois,  and  the  Farmers' 
Institute  has  a  mighty  work  to  do  in  thinking  out  these  long  thoughts  ahead 
and  talking  about  them  year  after  year,  because  the  form  of  our  advancing 
civilization  must  develop  by  plan  and  intention  and  not  "just  happen." 

We  are  going  into  a  new  agriculture  and  in  many  respects  a  new 
civilization.  Within  another  quarter  of  a  century  the  center  of  population 
will  be  within  the  borders  of  Illinois,  where  it  will  probably  remain 
indefinitely. 

We  have  the  fourth  largest  city  in  the  world,  and  in  time  it  will  be 
the  most  important.  We  are  at  the  center  of  the  greatest  agricultural  land 
area  of  the  world,  which  has  also  coal  and  oil  under  the  surface  and  the  best 
of  transportation  possibilities  both  by  land  and  water,  connecting  it  with 
the  most  populous  and  the  most  highly  civilized  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  Out  of  this  development  will  rise  multitudes  of  questions  that  will 
need  exactly  the  kind  of  foresight  and  breadth  of  vision  that  can  be  supplied 
only  ~by  a  state-wide,  non-commercial  agricultural  organization  such  as  the 
Illinois  Farmers'  Institute. 

Illinois  must  not  come  short  -of  her  opportunity  and  her  obligation  in 
all  this,  and  if  she  is  to  live  fully  up  to  her  possibilities  as  she  goes  along 
she  needs  just  such  a  monitor  and  just  such  a  forum  as  the  Farmers'  Institute 
can  provide.  Here  lies  the  job  for  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute. 

Mr.  ABBOTT:  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  relation  which  has  existed  for  twenty-five  years  between  Dean 
Davenport  and  the  College  of  Agriculture  is  about  to  be  severed,  I  move 
that  for  his  labor  and  help  in  this  work  we  give  him  a  vote  of  thanks  by 
rising.  (Vote  of  thanks  given.) 

DEAN    DAVENPORT:     I   assure  you  that  is  very  deeply  appreciated. 

PRESIDENT  MANN:  Now,  I  think  we  have  had  a  good  week.  We 
have  had  good  speakers,  and  we  have  had  a  good  attendance,  and  I  think 
we  have  gradually  led  up  to  the  climax  this  afternoon.  In  addition  to  the 
thanks  that  are  expressed  in  the  resolution  this  morning,  I  want  to  further 
express  to  all  here,  to  the  churches  who  so  efficiently  served  us,  to  the 
Model  City  Florist  and  others  for  the  flowers  they  have  sent  in,  and  to  the 
people  of  Monmouth  for  having  created  that  atmosphere  in  which  we  have 
lived  for  a  few  days,  the  appreciation  which  I  am  sure  we  all  feel.  They 
have  given  us  a  hearty  welcome  and  made  us  feel  at  home.  Let  us  remember 
the  better  and  higher  things  which  we  have  heard  here  all  week.  We  will 
close  our  week's  Institute.  Thank  you  very  much  for  your  attendance. 
We  will  now  be  excused. 


180 


I  LOVE  THEE  ILLINOIS. 
(By  8.  B.  Mason,  Director  17th  Congressional  District.) 


S.  B.  Mason. 


I  love  the  waving  fields  of  grain, 
The  dawning  skies  of  gold  and  sun, 
The  twilight  hours  when  day  is  done; 
It's  all  in  Illinois! 

I  love  the  prairies  and  the  dells, 
The  cheering  breeze  that  swells 
And  dies  again  with  evening  bells 
In  Illinois,  dear  Illinois! 

I  love  the  gorgeous  yellow  flowers 
That  autumn  brings  in  shady  bowers, — 
Delightful  days  and  sunny  hours; 
In  Illinois,  blest  Illinois! 

I  love  the  groves  and  plains  and  fields, 
The  richest  soil  that  plenty  yields, — • 
The  restful  hope  one  always  feels 
In  Illinois,  my  Illinois! 

In  thy  country's  need — a  son, 
Heroic  men  who  victory  won; 
I  love  thee  for  what  thou  hast  done 
Oh,  Illinois,  great  Illinois! 

Here  lie  the  green  graves  of  our  sires, 
Of  men  who  fought  our  country's  wars, 
The  loved  and  lost  of  passing  years, 
In  Illinois,  my  Illinois! 


MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETINGS 

of  the 

Board  of  Directors  and  Various  Committees 

• 

of  the 

ILLINOIS  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE 
For  the  Fiscal  Year  Ending  June  30,  1922 


183 


MINUTES   OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE   BOARD   OF   DIRECTORS   HELD 
IN  THE  INSTITUTE  ROOMS,  SPRINGFIELD,  AUGUST   24,   1921. 

Pursuant  to  the  call  of  the  president,  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  was  held  in  the  Institute  rooms,  Springfield,  August  24th,  1921,  at 
10  o'clock  A.  M. 

Present:  Directors  Barrett,  Burroughs,  E.  W.  Burrows,  J.  B.  Calhoun, 
Curtiss,  Gregory,  Hopping,  Mann,  Mason,  J.  P.,  Mason,  S.  B.,  Pickett,  Switzer 
and  Tullock.  Dr.  Wilson,  president  of  the  Household  Science  Department 
was  also  present. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 

The  secretary  presented  the  following  report: 

To  the  Board  of  Directors: 

As  a  result  of  the  spring  conferences,  which  were  exceptionally  well 
attended,  the  county  and  local  institute  schedules  and  assignments  have 
been  prepared  and  published  as  Bulletin  No.  28.  This  bulletin  contains 
schedules  for  96  counties,  and  lists  a  total  of  823  institute  sessions,  the 
total  number  of  speakers  assigned  to  these  meetings  being  163  of  which  116 
are  from  the  institute  and  47  from  the  University  and  State  Departments. 
The  schedule  lists  340  days  of  institutes,  at  211  meeting  places,  representing 
a  total  of  1,024  days  services  which  will  be  rendered  by  the  state  institute 
during  the  coming  season. 

Of  the  6  county  schedules  not  listed  in  this  bulletin,  at  least  3  will  be 
completed  later.  We  are  therefore  assured  that  of  the  102  counties  in  the 
state  all  but  a  possible  two  or  three  will  hold  two  or  more  days  of  insti- 
tutes this  year.  Several  counties  which  did  not  hold  institutes  last  season 
are  in  line  again  this  year,  and  increased  interest  in  the  work  is  noted  in 
many  others. 

The  schedules  are  being  mailed  to  all  the  county  institutes,  and  House- 
hold Science  Department  officers,  the  speakers,  county  superintendents  of 
schools  and  county  advisors.  Copies  are  also  going  forward  to  the  directors. 

Several  new  publications  have  recently  been  issued,  including  bulletins 
on  corn  disease  investigations,  phosphate  and  limestone  storage  bins,  and 
a  southern  Illinois  bulletin.  The  one  on  corn  diseases  is  the  first  of  the 
kind  to  be  issued  in  Illinois,  and  the  need  and  demand  for  same  promises 
to  be  great.  Already  over  10,000  copies  have  been  distributed,  practically 
all  on  request.  Several  thousand  copies  were  supplied  the  University,  and 
a  good  many  calls  from  county  agents  have  been  filled. 

Copy  of  the  1921  annual  report  is  already  on  the  press  and  we  are 
assured  of  its  early  delivery.  The  report  of  the  Household  Science  depart- 
ment will  be  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  soon,  and  it  is  expected  that  both 
reports  will  be  available  for  use  at  some  of  the  fall  institutes. 

Distribution  of  last  years'  report  is  about  completed,  and  the  supply 
for  general  distribution  is  practically  exhausted. 

The  appropriations  for  the  Institute  for  the  biennial  beginning  July  1st, 
1921,  were  made  by  the  General  Assembly  and  approved  by  the  Governor, 
in  accordance  with  the  requests  submitted  in  the  budget  through  the  State 
Finance  Department.  It  is  expected  that  those  amounts  will  amply  pro- 
vide for  the  present  work  of  the  Institute,  and  possibly  allow  for  some 
needed  lines  of  extension,  especially  in  the  way  of  wider  dissemination  of 
institute  publications. 

Your  attention  is  again  called  to  the  free  scholarships  in  Agricultural 
Household  Science  at  the  University  of  Illinois  through  the  State  Institute, 
and  the  importance  of  interesting  as  many  young  men  and  women  as 


184 

possible  in  securing  these  scholarships  for  the  coming  year.  The  total 
number  of  scholarships  available  in  each  course  is  110  for  the  state,  and  to 
date  only  a  little  more  than  one-third  this  number  have  been  applied  for 
and  granted.  The  requirements  provide  that  all  applications  be  received 
and  the  nominations  made  on  or  before  the  last  registration  day  of  the 
semester  in  which  the  applicant  intends  to  enter  the  University.  Any  one 
interested  in  securing  one  of  these  scholarships  for  the  coming  year  should 
be  urged  to  file  their  application  at  an  early  date,  as  only  a  few  weeks 
remain  before  the  beginning  of  the  school  year. 

Since  the  last  meeting  of  the  Board  two  of  your  honored  members 
have  passed  to  their  reward,  Directors  J.  P.  Gilbert  and  Edward  Grimes. 
Director  Gilbert  died  at  his  home  in  Carbondale,  April  10th  having  served 
as  a  member  of  the  State  Institute  Board  since  1918.  Directors  E.  W. 
Burroughs,  D.  M.  Marlin,  O.  L.  Wakefield  and  J.  B.  Burrows  attended  the 
funeral.  Director  Grimes  passed  away  at  his  farm  home  near  Raymond 
July  29th.  He  was  first  elected  as  director  in  1903,  and  served  continuously 
as  a  member  of  the  Board  since  that  date.  The  Institute  was  represented 
at  the  funeral  by  Directors  Allen,  E.  W.  Burroughs  and  J.  B.  Burrows. 
Mrs.  McKeene,  Mr.  Fleming  and  your  secretary  were  also  present  at  the 
services. 

With  the  passing  of  these  Directors,  two  vacancies  exist  in  the  member- 
ship of  the  Board,  one  in  the  21st  congressional  district,  and  comprising 
the  counties  of  Sangamon,  Christian,  Montgomery  and  Macoupin,  and  one 
in  the  25th  congressional  district,  comprising  the  counties  of  Alexander, 
Franklin,  Jackson,  Perry,  Pulaski,  Randolph,  Union  and  Williamson.  The 
filling  of  these  vacancies,  or  the  consideration  of  same,  rests  with  the 
pleasure  of  the  Board. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 

On  motion,  the  report  was  accepted  and  placed  on  file.  The  president 
reported  progress  on  the  work  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Institute 
to  cooperate  with  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Association  in  an  endeavor  to 
secure  lower  freight  rates  on  limestone  and  phosphate.  As  a  result  of  the 
work  of  this  committee  rates  upon  certain  roads  have  been  materially 
lowered  and  further  decreases  are  expected. 

Moved  by  Director  Burroughs  that  the  president  appoint  a  committee 
of  three  to  draft  resolutions  relative  to  the  deceased  members. 

Seconded  and  carried.  The  president  appointed  Directors  Burroughs, 
Gregory  and  Tullock  as  members  of  this  committee. 

Moved  by  Director  Burroughs  that  Prof.  R.  E.  Muckelroy  of  Carbon- 
dale,  be  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  25th  Congressional  District. 
Seconded  and  carried. 

Moved  by  Director  Burroughs  that  Mr.  W.  E.  Holben  of  Edinburg,  be 
elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  21st  Congressional  District.  Seconded 
and  carried. 

Moved  by  Director  J.  P.  Mason  that  president  Mann  be  elected  to  repre- 
sent the  Institute  on  the  Farm  Organization  and  Management  Committee 
which  is  being  formed  by  the  Farm  Management  Department  of  the  State 
University.  Seconded  and  carried. 

Moved  by  Director  Gregory  that  a  standing  committee  on  Farm  Organi- 
zation and  Management  be  created  with  the  president  as  chairman.  Second- 
ed and  carried. 

The  secretary  announced  the  appointment  by  the  president  the  com- 
mittees for  the  ensuing  year: 

Executive:  Frank  I.  Mann,  Ralph  Allen,  Frank  S.  Haynes,  C.  V.  Greg- 
ory, W.  <J.  Curtiss. 

Auditing:     Chas.  Gray,  August  Geweke,  G.  G.  Hopping. 

Legislative:  Frank  S.  Haynes,  E.  W.  Burroughs,  Clayton  C.  Pickett, 
John  E.  Barrett  and  W.  E.  Holben. 

Household  Science:  S.  B.  Mason,  J.  P.  Mason,  John  E.  Barrett,  W.  G. 
Curtiss,  H.  Clay  Calhoun. 


185 

Secondary  Education  in  Agriculture  and  Household  Science:  A.  C. 
Page,  Eugene  Davenport,  R.  E.  Muckelroy,  F.  G.  Blair,  W.  G.  Fulton. 

Highways:  E.  W.  Burroughs,  Geo.  A.  Switzer,  D.  M.  Marlin,  L.  L. 
Wakefield,  Wm.  E.  Meier. 

Agricultural  Books:  Eugene  Davenport,  F.  G.  Blair,  J.  B.  Burrows, 
L.  C.  Brown  and  A.  C.  Page. 

Entomology:     J.  B.  Burrows,  Geo.  F.  Tullock,  L.  C.  Brown. 

Soil  Investigations  and  Experiments:  Ralph  Allen,  F.  I.  Mann,  A.  N. 
Abbott,  Geo.  F.  Tullock  and  O.  L.  Wakefield. 

Moved  that  these  committee  appointments  be  confirmed.  Seconded 
and  carried. 

Director  Burroughs  reported  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
unanimously  adopted: 

WHEEEAS,  Our  respected  and  beloved  fellow  member,  Director  J.  P. 
Gilbert,  of  the  25th  Congressional  District,  has  been  called  to  his  reward. 

Be  it  Resolved:  That  in  the  passing  of  Director  Gilbert,  the  Farmers' 
Institute  and  the  agriculture  of  the  State  at  large  has  lost  an  active,  un- 
tiring and  unselfish  friend  and  benefactor  whose  constructive  work  as  a 
leader  and  teacher  along  educational  and  improved  farming  lines  will  long 
be  remembered  and  lastingly  appreciated,  especially  throughout  Southern 
Illinois  where  Mr.  Gilbert  labored  so  faithfully  and  successfully  in  the  inter- 
ests of  better  rural  conditions. 

Be  it  Further  Resolved:  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  made  apart 
of  the  official  record  by  incorporating  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board. 

E.  W.  BUBEOUGHS, 
(Signed)     GEO.  F.  TULLOCK, 
C.  V.  GEEGOBY. 

WHEBEAS,  Death  has  removed  from  this  life  Director  Edward  Grimes, 
who  served  as  a  member  of  the  State  Institute  Board  from  the  21st  Con- 
gressional District  continuously  since  his  election  in  1903. 

Be  it  Resolved:  That  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  has  lost  a  devoted 
and  untiring  worker  whose  long  service  will  always  be  remembered;  that 
Illinois  Agriculture  has  lost  a  true  and  tried  friend  and  the  State  one  of 
its  most  useful  and  public  spirited  citizens. 

Be  it  Further  Resolved:  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  made  a  part 
of  the  official  record  by  incorporating  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board. 

E.  W.  BUEBOUGHS, 
(Signed)     GEO.  F.  TULLOCK, 
C.  V.  GEEGOEY. 

Announcement  was  made  of  the   call  for  a  meeting  of  the  executive 
committee  to  be  held  at  Monmouth,  September  8th  at  which  time  definite 
arrangements  of  the  state  meeting  would  be  made. 
On  motion  the  Board  adjourned. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
Approved,  November  29,  1921. 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 


MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  HELD 
AT   MONMOUTH,    SEPTEMBER   8,   1921. 

Purusant  to  the  call  of  the  president  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  com- 
mittee was  held  in  Monmouth,  September  8th,  1921. 

Present:     Directors,  Mann,  Allen  and  Curtiss. 

The  committee  inspected  the  facilities  offered  for  the  holding  of  the 
state  meeting  in  February  and  conferred  with  representatives  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  County  Farmers'  Institute  and  County  Farm  Bureau  re- 
garding detailed  arrangements  and  program.  The  new  state  armony  build- 
ing was  found  to  be  ideally  located,  and  equipped  as  a  meeting  place  for  the 


186 

institute,  and  while  the  hotel  facilities  of  the  town  are  not  as  commodious 
as  might  ordinarily  be  required,  the  assurance  of  plenty  of  available  rooms 
in  private  homes  was  considered  sufficient  to  warrant  the  location  of  the 
meeting. 

On  motion  duly  made  and  carried,  and  as  a  result  of  its  visit  of  in- 
spection, the  committee  formally  accepted  Monmouth  as  the  location  of  the 
State  Institute  for  1922. 

On  motion  the  committee  adjourned. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 

Approved,  November  29,  1921. 


MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS   HELD 
IN  THE  STOCK  YARDS  INN,  CHICAGO,  NOVEMBER  29,  1921. 

Pursuant  to  the  call  of  the  president,  the  meeting  of  the  board  of 
directors  was  held  in  the  Stock  Yards  Inn,  Chicago,  November  29,  1921, 
at  10  o'clock,  A.  M. 

Present:  Directors  Allen,  Barrett,  Brown,  Burrows,  J.  B.,  Calhoun, 
Curtiss,  Geweke,  Gregory,  Haynes,  Holben,  Mann,  Marlin,  Mason,  S.  B., 
Muckelroy,  Pickett,  Dr.  Wilson,  Mrs.  Bradt  and  Mrs.  McKeene,  of  the 
Department  of  Household  Science  were  also  present. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 

The  secretary  reported  increased  interest  and  attendance  at  the  fall 
meetings.  Additional  schedules  in  several  counties  were  also  announced. 

The  president  spoke  of  the  work  of  the  Limestone  and  Phosphate  com- 
mittee, citing  the  results  secured  in  reference  to  a'  readjustment  of  freight 
rates  in  the  interest  of  Illinois  farmers.  Because  of  a  conflicting  meeting 
of  this  committee  with  railroad  officials  in  the  city,  he  asked  to  be  excused, 
calling  the  vice-president  to  the  chair. 

The  secretary  presented  a  tentative  outline  of  the  program  for  the 
annual  meeting,  and  Mrs.  McKeene  spoke  of  the  plans  for  the  household 
science  department  sessions.  After  full  discussion  these  programs  were 
approved  and  the  secretary  authorized  to  complete  the  details  as  decided 
upon. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  institute  work  emphasized  the  value  of 
close  co-operation  between  all  organizations  and  agencies  interested  in 
better  agriculture,  improved  rural  community  and  home  conditions  through- 
out the  State. 

On  motion  the  meeting  adjourned. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 

Approved  March  7,  1922. 


MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  BOARD   OF  DIRECTORS,  HELD 
IN  THE  INSTITUTE  ROOMS,   SPRINGFIELD,  MARCH   7,   1922. 

The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  was  held  in  the  Institute 
rooms,  Springfield,  March  7,  1922,  President  Mann  presiding. 

Present:  Directors,  Barrett,  Brown,  Burroughs,  E.  W.  Calhoun,  Curtiss, 
Davison,  Geweke,  Gray,  Haynes,  Holben,  Hopping,  Mann  Mason,  S.  B. 
Pickett,  Simpson,  Switzer,  Tullock,  and  Wakefield. 

Dr.  Wilson  and  Mrs.  McKeene  were  also  present. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  board  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 

The  Secretary  presented  the  following  report: 

To  the  Board  of  Directors: 

In  reviewing  the  activities  of  the  Institute  for  the  year  just  closing, 
the  outstanding  feature  is  the  increased  interest  and  activity  throughout 
the  State.  The  season  has  proved  a  most  successful  one  from  all  stand- 


187 

points,  especially  from  that  of  attendance  at  both  county  and  local  meet- 
ings. The  institutes  have  invariably  been  well  attended  and  in  the  great 
majority  of  counties  the  audiences  have  filled  the  halls  during  all  sessions. 

At  the  district  conferences  held  last  spring  all  but  six  counties  were 
represented,  and  schedules  were  arranged  accordingly.  Two  of  the  coun- 
ties which  did  not  schedule  institutes  at  these  conferences,  arranged  for 
meetings  later  in  the  season,  so  that  of  the  102  counties  in  the  state  only 
four  failed  to  do  any  institute  work.  A  number  of  additional  institutes 
were  scheduled,  several  of  these  being  in  counties  in  which  the  interest 
has  heretofore  not  been  the  best.  In  both  interest  and  attendance  these 
additional  meetings  have  been  remarkably  successful. 

Approximately  372  days  of  institutes  at  231  points  in  97  counties  repre- 
senting a  total  of  963  sessions,  and  1086  days  of  institute  service  have  been 
rendered  by  the  state  Institute  during  the  season.  The  summary  by  coun- 
ties shows  that  five  or  more  days  of  institutes  have  been  held  in  twenty 
counties,  and  that  in  68  counties  three  or  more  days  is  the  record.  Seven 
counties  have  held  eight  or  more  days  and  in  five  counties  ten  days  or 
over  has  been  the  rule. 

To  date,  detail  reports  of  the  season's  work  have  been  received  from 
seventy-four  counties,  and  while  a  summary  of  these  reports  at  this  time 
does  not  give  the  complete  data  for  the  year,  it  is  of  importance  indicating 
the  condition  of  the  work  in  these  seventy-four  counties.  Such  a  summary 
shows  240  days  of  institutes  and  755  sessions  with  a  total  attendance  of 
91,846  persons.  Complete  figures  covering  all  the  counties,  cannot  be 
given  until  reports  from  the  remaining  counties  are  received. 

The  number  of  speakers  assigned  to  institutes  during  the  year  totals 
188,  of  which  136  have  been  from  the  institute  and  52  from  the  State  Uni- 
versity and  state  departments. 

In  this  connection,  the  co-operation  which  the  institute  is  now  re- 
ceiving from  other  organizations  is  worthy  of  special  mention.  The  past 
season  has  effected  a  better  understandng  of  the  organization,  objects  and 
purposes  of  the  institute,  and  its  work  has  in  most  counties  demonstrated 
not  only  the  need  for  continued  institute  activity  but  has  pointed  the  way 
to  increased  usefulness  as  an  educational  institution.  The  tendency  toward 
better  co-operation  and  closer  relationship  between  all  organizations,  par- 
ticularly the  county  institute  and  the  county  farm  bureau,  is  very  noticeable, 
and  can  not  help  but  make  for  better  results  and  greater  accomplishments. 
This  co-operation  should  be  encouraged. 

Briefly  stated,  the  records  of  the  season's  work  shows  more  meetings, 
larger  attendance,  wider  interest  and  better  co-operation  from  individuals 
and  organizations,  than  any  previous  year  in  the  history  of  the  Institute. 

THE  STATE   MEETING. 

The  recent  annual  meeting  at  Monmouth  was  very  well  attended  from 
over  the  State,  some  76  counties  being  represented  at  the  various  sessions. 
Weather  conditions  which  made  the  roads  impassable  greatly  reduced  the 
expected  attendance  from  Warren  and  adjoining  counties.  Despite  this  un- 
preventable  disappointment  the  average  attendance  at  the  various  sessions 
was  conservatively  estimated  at  from  700  to  1200. 

While  the  advertising  of  the  State  Meeting  was  general,  a  special  effort 
was  made  to  reach  the  public  in  that  section  of  the  state  within  a  radius  of 
50  to  75  miles.  Several  new  plans  for  gaining  effective  publicity  were  tried, 
and  in  the  main  seemed  to  show  very  good  results.  Including  the  programs, 
more  than  70,000  pieces  of  advertising  matter  were  used,  the  distribution  of 
which  was  thoroughly  planned  and  carried  out.  The  newspaper  publicity 
both  before  and  since  the  meeting  was  exceptionally  pleasing. 

The  co-operation  extended  by  the  Monmouth  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the 
Warren  county  farm  bureau  and  other  local  organizations  was  excellent  and 
aided  materially  in  making  the  meeting  a  pronounced  success. 


188 

PUBLICATIONS. 

During  the  year,  the  requests  for  Institute  publications  have  increased 
to  such  a  volume  that  one  supply  of  both  Annual  reports  and  bulletins  is 
now  practically  exhausted.  Never  have  the  calls  for  these  publications  been 
so  numerous  and  persistent  as  during  the  past  season.  Because  of  the  de- 
mand, second  editions  of  these  different  bulletins  "Corn  Disease  Investiga- 
tions", "Limestone  and  Phosphate",  and  "Modern  Agriculture  in  Southern 
Illinois",  have  been  published,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  number 
first  printed  was  considered  an  ample  supply  for  all  purposes.  Over  25,000 
copies  of  the  "Corn  Disease  Investigations"  bulletin  have  been  requested  for 
use  over  the  state,  and  requests  for  it  are  still  coming  in  daily.  For  the 
other  two  mentioned,  over  10,000  calls  have  been  received  since  their  pub- 
lication, and  unless  the  demand  ceases  some  additional  copies  will  have  to 
be  printed. 

The  1921  Annual  reports  are  all  out  except  a  small  supply  of  the  cloth 
bound  copies.  Over  20,000  copies  of  this  report  have  been  requested  since 
it  became  available  for  distribution  in  the  fall.  The  distribution  of  both 
the  reports  and  bulletins  is  governed  entirely  by  the  requests  received  for 
them,  as  no  copies  are  sent  out  except  to  persons  who  indicate  an  interest 
in  receiving  them.  The  number  of  annual  reports  printed  each  year  is  gov- 
erned by  the  number  of  requests  received  for  that  publication  the  previous 
year.  The  policy  to  publish  no  more  than  are  actually  demanded  for  use  by 
interested  people  from  year  to  year  was  established  four  years  ago  and  has 
since  been  followed.  We  believe  that  this  policy  is  the  only  business  one  to 
pursue,  and  are  convinced  that  experience  is  justifying  this  course. 

In  addition  to  the  annual  reports  and  bulletins  issued  during  the  year 
an  ample  supply  of  new  score  cards  for  farm  and  home  products  have  been 
printed  for  general  distribution,  wherever  called  for. 

UNIVERSITY   SCHOLARSHIPS. 

A  growing  interest  is  noted  in  the  special  scholarships  which  are  offered 
by  the  University  of  Illinois  through  the  medium  of  the  State  Farmers'  In- 
stitute. During  the  year  48  young  men  have  been  nominated  for  scholar- 
ship in  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  37  young  women  have  been  nomi- 
nated for  Household  Science  Scholarships  at  the  University.  Under  the 
rules  of  the  University  Trustees,  these  scholarships  are  limited  to  one  in 
Agriculture,  and  one  in  Household  Science,  to  each  county,  except  Cook  and 
Lake,  and  one  to  each  of  the  first  ten  congressional  districts  in  the  state. 
It  is  possible,  however,  to  take  care  of  additional  candidates  from  any  one 
county,  by  assignment  to  other  counties  or  districts  from  which  there  are 
no  accepted  candidates.  Applications  for  scholarships  beginning  at  the  fall 
semester  are  already  being  received,  and  early  filing  of  all  applications,  in 
order  to  avoid  any  possible  disappointments,  is  urged. 

FINANCIAL   STATEMENT,   MARCH   1,    1922. 

The  following  is  an  itemized  statement  of  funds  appropriated,  for  the 
current  year,  amounts  expended,  and  the  balance  on  hand  March  1,  1922, 
as  classified  in  the  office  of  the  State  Auditor: 

Appro- 
Name  of  Account                                        priation  Bills  Paid  Balance 

Salaries     $8,720.00  $5,793.28             $2,926.72 

Office    Expense    2,125.00  1,032.73  1,092  VI 

Reporting    700.00             700.00 

Per  Diem    7,000.00  5,442.50  1,557.50 

Directors'    Expense    6,000.00  1,117.13  4,882.87 

County    Institutes    7,650.00  5,032.59  2,617.41 

Contingent    100.00             100.00 

Equipment    750.00             750.00 


189 

• 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

In  conclusion,  the  following  suggestions  are  presented  for  your  further 
consideration: 

The  schedule  of  the  District  Conferences  should  be  definitely  decided 
upon  at  this  meeting.  Suggestions  regarding  same  should  be  made  known 
to  the  secretary  before  adjournment,  in  order  that  announcements  may  go 
forward  immediately  to  the  county  officers  and  others  interested  in  attend- 
ing these  meetings.  Members  of  the  Board  can  render  considerable  aid  in 
securing  a  full  attendance  from  the  various  counties  and  in  making  these 
conferences  of  the  utmost  value. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  urgent  need  for  more  institute  speakers.  The 
assistance  of  Board  Members  in  locating  new  and  additional  material  for 
the  speakers  list  is  urgently  requested.  Consideration  of  the  present  list  of 
speakers  should  be  given  attention  at  this  time. 

The  importance  of  county  officers,  and  others  who  may  have  charge  of 
local  institutes,  adhering  strictly  to  the  printed  schedules  of  assigned  speak- 
ers need  be  emphasized  by  the  directors  generally  as  they  come  in  contact 
with  the  workers  in  their  several  districts.  The  fact  that  the  State  Institute 
can  not  take  care  of  the  fees  of  speakers  except  as  they  are  assigned  through 
the  state  office,  should  also  be  made  plain  to  all  county  officers. 

While  the  number  of  applications  for  free  scholarships  in  the  State 
University  from  both  young  men  and  young  women,  compares  favorably 
with  previous  years,  the  list  of  nominations  is  not  as  large  as  it  should  be, 
considering  the  opportunities  offered  by  these  scholarships.  Lack  of  infor- 
mation rather  than  lack  of  interest,  is  probably  the  chief  reason  why  these 
scholarships  are  not  more  generally  requested.  Members  of  the  Institute 
Board  can  help  in  bringing  this  matter  to  the  attention  of  boys  and  girls 
who  are  deserving  of  encouragement  in  their  desire  to  obtain  University 
Training. 

Experience  of  the  last  few  years  has  demonstrated  the  importance  of 
more  adequate  facilities,  especially  that  of  hotel  accommodations,  for  the 
holding  of  the  Annual  State  Meeting.  Because  of  this  fact,  it  is  suggested 
that  more  attention  be  given  this  matter  in  the  selection  of  meeting  places 
for  future  State  Institutions.  The  advantages  offered  from  the  standpoint 
of  hard  roads  leading  to  places  asking  for  the  meeting,  is  also  suggested 
as  a  matter  of  growing  importance  deserving  of  more  serious  consideration 
than  has  heretofore  been  given. 

The  program  of  the  Monmouth  Meeting  presented  several  speakers 
whose  addresses,  or  digest  thereof,  might  well  be  issued  in  circular  form  in 
addition  to  publication  in  the  Annual  Reports.  This  suggestion  applies  to 
both  the  institute  and  household  science  department  programs.  Early  pub- 
lication and  distribution  of  the  address  of  Dean  Davenport,  Mr.  Thorne, 
President  Mann,  Mr.  Vrooman,  and  several  others  would  seem  especially 
advisable.  We  hope  it  will  be  possible  to  disseminate  some  of  this  practical 
and  worthwhile  information  in  this  way  at  an  early  date  and  anticipate  your 
approval  if  such  can  be  accomplished.  The  details  of  the  demonstration 
given  by  Mrs.  Mann  were  published  before  the  meeting  and  copies  for  use 
at  Monmouth  were  provided,  the  balance  of  the  addition  are  expected  from 
the  printer  this  week. 

The  outlook  for  the  coming  season's  Institute  work  is  excellent.  The 
live  interest  displayed  in  the  work  the  past  year  points  to  even  greater  in- 
terest and  activity  next,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  still  better 
results  in  the  various  counties.  With  all  working  together,  a  new  record 
can  and  will  be  made  for  1922-23. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 

On  motion  the  report  was  accepted  and  ordered  placed  on  file. 

Moved  by  Director  Burroughs  that  the  recommendations  of  the  Secre- 
tary be  referred  to  the  new  board  upon  its  organization.  Seconded  and 
carried. 


190 

Moved  that  the  visiting  delegations  be  received  at  1:15  P.  M.  each  being 
given  ten  minutes  to  present  its  claims  for  the  next  annual  meeting.  Sec- 
onded and  carried. 

The  secretary  read  a  letter  from  Dean  Davenport,  in  which,  as  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  Agricultural  Books,  he  reported  the  committee's  ap- 
proval of  Dr.  Carver's  new  work  entitled  "Principles  of  Natural  Economics", 
recently  published  by  Ginn  &  Co. 

President  Mann  spoke  of  the  work  of  the  committee  on  Soil  Investiga- 
tions and  Experiments  and  its  relation  to  the  University,  explaining  that 
under  the  ruling  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  the  State  Institute  is  requested 
to  submit  the  names  of  three  Directors  from  which  the  Trustees  will  appoint 
the  members  of  this  committee.  Mention  was  also  made  of  the  fact  that 
one  of  the  requirements  made  by  the  University  is  that  members  of  this  com- 
mittee must  not  only  be  farmers  but  must  actually  live  and  reside  on  a  farm. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Household  Science  presented  the 
following  report: 

To  the  President,  Officers  and  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Illinois  Farmers' 
Institute: 

Gentlemen:  It  is  always  a  pleasure  as  well  as  my  duty  to  bring  you  a 
brief  review  of  the  year's  work  of  our  Department.  It  is  not  the  services 
of  your  secretary  but  the  faithful  team  work  and  co-operation  of  the  insti- 
tute Board,  the  club  and  county  household  science  officers,  the  speakers,  all 
who  have  made  the  interest  of  the  year  just  closing. 

In  looking  backward  the  thought  comes  to  us,  often,  what  have  been 
the  achievements  of  the  Department,  one  of  the  oldest  organizations  in  the 
state  for  the  education  of  homemakers?  What  has  been  done  to  make  the 
business  of  housekeeping  the  greatest  profession  for  women  and  to  interest 
them  to  realize  that  it  is  not  drudgery,  but  an  art  for  every  woman  who 
presides  over  the  institution  called  HOME. 

We  could  not  make  a  report  without  paying  tribute  to  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  who  have  always  been  our  great 
support  and  with  whom  we  work  in  harmony  year  after  year.  Why  not 
such  close  organization?  Men  and  women  are  partners  in  the  business  of 
home  making  and  the  problems  to  be  discussed  and  solved  belong  to  all. 
The  Department  is  a  helpful  auxiliary  of  the  institute  and  there  is  no 
stronger  body  of  men  and  women  existing  in  Illinois  today  which  reaches 
out  to  every  profession — every  home — that  we  may  be  better  fitted  for  the 
job  which  is  ours. 

THE  OBJECT. 

The  object  of  the  Department  of  Household  Science  has  always  been 
the  advancement  of  all  the  interests  of  the  home  and  that  woman's  work 
of  housekeeping  and  homemaking  should  be  made  a  subject  for  systematic 
study.  We  have  encouraged  young  people  to  become  interested  and  to  have 
a  part  in  the  work.  Household  science  clubs  and  parent  teachers'  associa- 
tions have  been  organized,  all  for  the  purpose  of  making  better  homes,  better 
schools  and  a  better  citizenship. 

From  a  beginning  small  we  have  grown  to  be  an  organization  which 
will  never  finish  its  work  until  every  home  in  Illinois  has  been  touched. 
Sometimes  the  past  year  we  have  been  told  that  the  Household  Science  De- 
partment is  out  of  date  and  that  it  is  no  longer  needed,  but  I  ask  you  if 
there  is  not  a  great  work  yet  to  be  done  when  every  woman  is  a  part  of 
the  institute  without  fees  and  dues  and  can  have  a  voice  in  the  discussions 
of  every  subject  before  us? 

I  wish  I  could  go  back  and  recall  each  step  In  the  growth  of  our  Depart- 
ment but  it  cannot  be  done  in  a  brief  report.  It  may  be  of  interest  for  you 
to  know  where  the  meetings  have  been  held  since  the  first  annual  in  1898. 
The  first  meeting  was  held  in  Princeton  with  the  Farmers'  Institute  and  a 
part  of  one  day  was  given  to  the  women  for  their  program.  In  the  succes- 
sion the  meetings  have  been  held — Princeton,  Mt,  Vernon,  Jacksonville,  Rock' 


191 

ford,  Bloomington,  Decatur,  Joliet,  Olney,  Quincy,  Peoria,  Rockford,  Ed- 
wardsville,  Ottawa,  Centralia  Sterling,  Galesburg,  Harrisburg  Decatur, 
Streator,  Bloomington,  Joliet,  Carbondale,  Danville  and  Monmouth.  Be- 
sides the  annual  meetings,  Paris,  Lincoln  and  Cairo  had  institutes  one  year. 
These  taking  the  work  over  all  sections  of  the  state. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

We  have  seen  development  along  many  lines  and  have  played  no  small 
part  in  making  the  housekeepers  course  at  the  University  of  Illinois  what 
it  was  for  years.  Broad  contests  were  held  in  the  counties  during  institute 
season  and  a  free  trip  to  the  short  course  was  given  the  successful  contest- 
ant. The  institute  and  household  science  presidents  have  signed  all  the 
applications  for  the  State  Pair  School  of  Domestic  Science,  one  of  the  most 
popular  fair  attractons  in  Illinois  and  which  has  been  in  existance  23  years. 
This  school  has  inspired  many  young  women  to  take  a  higher  course  in 
home  economics  and  the  profession  of  nursing. 

The  Department  has  always  been  interested  in  putting  household  science 
in  the  schools,  both  town  and  rural,  it  is  supported  the  first  canning  school 
in  the  state  and  promoted  the  canning  club  movement.  It  co-operated  with 
the  better  babies'  conference  being  one  of  the  first  to  put  on  a  conference. 
It  worked  for  the  organization  of  boys'  and  girls'  clubs  and  we  stand  ready 
to-day  to  co-operate  with  every  organization  existing  for  a  bigger  and  better 
work.  One  aim  has  been  ours — attempting  larger  things  for  the  homes  of 
Illinois,  for  we  realize  that  the  future  greatness  of  the  country  will  be  meas- 
ured by  the  standard  of  the  homes  (and  citizens  found  within  them.) 

NUMBER  OF   CLUBS. 

< 

Today  we  have  360  clubs  to  report.  During  the  year  38  new  ones  were 
reported  while  22  were  lost  to  the  home  bureau  and  federation  of  clubs. 
Three  counties,  only,  are  without  county  departments,  but  they  have  indi- 
vidual clubs.  Menard  came  in  this  year  with  officers  and  three  institutes. 
Strong  county  organizations  with  local  clubs  as  auxiliaries  are  our  hope 
for  the  new  year. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

That  it  may  always  be  clear  to  you  I  will  repeat  what  has  been  said 
about  our  membership.  The  membership  consists  of  county  household 
science  clubs  affiliated  with  the  county  farmers'  institutes  and  other  local 
clubs  which  are  actively  engaged  in  household  science  study  and  work. 
Membership  is  limited  to  those  clubs  which  are  in  actual  affiliation  with  the 
farmers'  institute  and  whose  activities  include  at  least  six  meetings  during 
the  year  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  program  consists  of  household 
science  topics.  All  clubs  to  be  affiliated  must  express  a  desire  to  affiliate 
with  the  State  Farmers'  Institute  and  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Household  Science  the  name  of  the  club  officers'  names  and  other 
information  as  required.  Household  Science  work  is  holding  meeting, 
forming  classes  for  girls  in  household  science,  forming  canning  clubs  or  in 
furthering  such  other  activities  as  are  recommended  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Department  of  Household  Science.  We  have  no  fees,  or  dues, 
for  affiliation.  The  inquiry  comes  to  us  from  clubs  about  becoming  a  part 
of  the  federation  of  women's  clubs.  Must  we  affiliate?  Our  answer  is  we 
cannot  see  the  need  of  household  science  clubs  and  departments  paying  dues 
to  become  a  part  of  the  federation.  But  also  we  do  not  direct  that  part  of 
local  organizations.  Our  Department  accepts  every  woman  in  the  state, 
in  the  county  work  and  provides  every  help  without  money  return.  Let 
the  household  science  clubs  be  free  to  keep  the  meetings  throughout  the 
year  and  let  individual  members  become  members  of  the  woman's  club  when 
it  is  her  desire. 

It  is  the  same  with  household  science  members  joining  other  organ- 
izations and  being  asked  to  disband  on  account  of  too  many  meetings  to 


192 

attend.     We  repeat,  belong  to  as  many  organizations  as  we  please  as  indi- 
viduals but  keep  the  household  science  club  interest,  Always. 

CONFERENCES  AND  INSTITUTE  WORK. 

When  the  conferences  were  held  last  spring  in  the  25  Congressional 
Districts  the  secretary  was  present  at  each  meeting.  There  was  a  very 
good  representation  of  the  county  household  science  presidents  who  attended 
for  the  purpose  of  outlining  the  program  for  the  woman's  sessions  of  the 
county  institutes,  selecting  speakers  and  discussing  the  work  in  general. 
The  county  presidents  should  not  fail  to  attend  these  conferences  for  the 
work  becomes  more  effective  through  personal  exchange  of  ideas.  Every 
woman  is  welcome,  and  at  many  conferences  there  is  a  large  attendance  of 
interested  club  members. 

There  were  five  U.  of  I.  household  science  speakers  assigned  at  the  con- 
ferences for  14  days  work,  the  speakers  to  appear  before  23  sessions.  From 
the  Department  speakers,  27  were  scheduled  for  301  days  to  appear  before 
472  sessions.  Two  special  speakers  gave  8  days  service  with  12  sessions;  and 
16  extra  meetings  were  arranged  after  the  bulletin  was  printed,  making  a 
total  of  323  days  and  507  sessions  of  household  science  work  at  county  in- 
stitutes. Only  two  counties  in  the  state  failed  to  schedule  women  speakers, 
at  the  conferences.  (McHenry  and  Livingston.) 

Never  have  we  had  better  service  from  our  household  science  speakers 
and  the  year  closes  with  only  a  very  few  substitutions.  In  cases  when  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  to  substitute,  owing  to  illness,  the  greatest  support 
was  given  your  secretary,  and  speakers  responded  in  three  instances  in  one 
hour's  notice.  Such  co-operation  is  appreciated  beyond  expression. 

A  word  further  about  the  assignment  of  speakers.  When  certain  ones 
are  asked  for  we  cannot  promise  that  the  schedule  will  be  exactly  as  de- 
sired. Many  counties  select  the  same  dates  and  speakers.  '  The  list  as  made 
at  the  conferences  is  always  sent  to  the  speakers  and  they  select  the  counties 
to  which  they  will  go. .  Probably  one  county  will  have  speakers  for  five 
days  and  another  just  one  session.  Which  do  you  think  she  will  take?  It 
is  not  economy  or  good  service  to  use  so  many  speakers  for  one  session  each. 

THE   STATE  FAIR  SCHOOL. 

The  State  Fair  School  is  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  creating  interest 
among  young  women  and  last  year  several  pupils  returned  to  their  homes 
and  organized  clubs  or  were  elected  to  county  department  officers. 

The  1921  session  of  the  school  stands  as  the  best  one  in  its  history.  One 
hundred  and  twenty  young  women  were  accepted  and  113  were  enrolled. 
The  girls  were  always  ready  to  do  the  work  assigned  them  and  they  made 
the  Board  feel  that  they  fully  appreciated  every  moment  of  the  two  weeks 
spent  together.  Seventy-three  counties  were  represented  last  year — a  hope 
for  1922  is  that  all  the  counties  will  be  represented. 

UNIVERSITY   OF   ILLINOIS    SCHOLARSHIPS. 

The  Household  Science  Scholarships  given  to  the  U.  of  I.  last  year  num- 
ber 37.  Through  the  courtesy  of  the  University  and  Farmers'  Institute, 
these  scholarships  are  available  for  representatives  from  each  county  in  the 
state  for  the  course  in  Home  Economics.  Three  specials  are  given  the  high- 
est grades  for  the  State  Fair  School. 

One  scholarship  is  given  to  each  county  except  Cook  and  Lake  which 
have  ten.  The  scholarships  are  given  to  high  school  graduates  (or  its 
equivalent)  for  two  years  and  if  the  pupil  matriculates  it  is  good  for  two 
years  more. 

REFERENCE    LIBRARY    BOOKS. 

The  library  reference  books  and  bulletins  have  been  called  for  the  past 
year  in  large  numbers,  more  than  any  previous  year.  375  books  and  400 
bulletins  have  been  loaned  for  club  help  besides  typewritten  articles  for 
special  subjects.  No  account  can  be  kept  of  those  requests.  Many  organiza- 
tions not  affiliated  with  us  ask  for  program  helps. — We  try  to  serve  all. 


193 

THE   QUESTIONNAIRE. 

Early  after  the  conferences  a  questionnaire  was  sent  to  each  club  in  the 
department  and  partial  reports  were  returned  from  203  not  including  the 
county  reports.  Since  the  clubs  do  not  answer  the  questions  in  full  the 
statistical  report  is  not  accurate  in  these  figures,  but  some  of  the  interesting 
things  are  mentioned.  In  answering  the  question  when  was  your  club  or- 
ganized we  have  these  figures:  one  club  in  1894;  two  in  1897,  three  in  1898, 
one  in  1900,  three  in  1901,  four  in  1903,  three  in  1906,  one  in  1908,  five  in 
1909,  twelve  in  1910,  ten  in  1911,  twelve  in  1912,  sixteen  in  1913,  eleven  in 
1914,  fifteen  in  1915,  ten  in  1916,  twelve  in  1917,  one  in  1918,  three  in  1919, 
seven  in  1920,  nine  in  1921  and  five  for  1922. 

The  total  membership  given  for  203  clubs  is  5,406,  of  which  2,853  are 
town  and  2,553  rural  members.  Total  attendance  for  the  year  2,956.  Eighty- 
four  report  monthly  meetings,  35  semi-monthly  and  3  weekly. 

Meeting  places — 94  clubs  met  in  the  homes  of  members,  6  in  churches, 
16  in  club  rooms  or  libraries  and  10  in  schools. 

Days  of  the  week  on  which  meetings  are  held — Monday  4,  Tuesday  4, 
Wednesday  47,  Thursday  23,  Friday  24  and  Saturday  10. 

Time  of  elections — January  11,  clubs  elect,  February  5,  March  11,  April 
29,  May  36,  June  7,  July  6,  August  1,  September  5,  October  5,  November  3, 
and  December  7.  It  is  impossible  to  have  complete  or  comparative  figures 
at  this  time. 

One  hundred  and  forty-six  report  printed  programs  for  meetings,  and 
the  subjects  for  study  include  foods,  21  clubs,  sewing  10,  health  12,  Circular 
No.  3,  30,  Yearbook  12,  School  lunch  43,  Civics  5,  Household  management  10, 
Americanization  3.  There  were  1,963  modern  homes  reported  by  clubs. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

The  1920  Year  Book  was  off  the  press  last  March  and  15,000  copies  dis- 
tributed. The  State  Fair  School  report  compiled  and  1,800  copies  printed, 
the  1921  Year  Book  compiled  and  edited,  15,000  copies  printed  and  ready  for 
distribution,  5,000  copies  of  the  Dress  Form  bulletin  printed  and  ready  for 
distribution.  We  also  had  our  part  of  the  speakers'  bulletin  No.  28.  Forty 
thousand  score  cards  for  judging  20  exhibit  articles  have  been  printed  and 
ready  for  use  at  institutes,  (and  other  food  demonstrations). 

Just  a  word  further  about  the  score  cards  and  exhibits.  The  1921  Year 
Book  contains  all  the  score  card  figures  and  they  should  become  familiar 
to  every  speaker  and  officer.  They  should  be  discussed  and  used.  Exhibits, 
unless  educational,  have  no  place  at  an  institute.  The  classification  of  ex- 
hibits should  be  given  greater  attention,  and  consideration,  for  the  education- 
al value  means  much  not  only  to  the  exhibitor  but  to  every  woman  who  sees 
the  exhibit. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

No  account,  or  estimate,  can  be  given  of  the  correspondence  which  in- 
cludes all  the  club  letters,  correspondence  with  household  science  speakers, 
county  officers,  state  fair  school,  state  meeting  and  many  special  organiza- 
tions. The  secretary  has  done  her  own  letter  writing  and  endeavored  to 
keep  in  touch  with  every  phase  of  the  work.  Failures  have  been  made  but 
rush  of  work  has  sometimes  been  the  cause. 

THE   STATE  MEETING. 

Publicity  with  distribution  includes  7,000  programs,  3,000  songs  (Illi- 
nois), 10,000  small  posters,  10,000  folders,  300  credential  blanks,  3,000  large 
posters,  10,000  Illinois  stickers,  10,000  postcards,  15,000  blotters,  15.000 
calendars,  1,000  reservation  cards,  18  special  cards  for  newspapers,  1,000  press 
sheets,  1,000  personal  invitation  cards  and  800  press  letters  to  clubs.  The 
above  material  was  all  handled  through  the  office,  every  member  of  the  force 
doing  team  work  early  and  late. 

Summing  up  the  club  work  we  find  that  community  service,  supporting 
tuberculosis  sanitariums,  buying  equipment  for  domestic  science  departments 


194 

in  the  schools,  equipment  for  the  hot  lunch,  supporting  county  nurses,  child 
welfare  work,  putting  music  in  the  schools,  buying  home  economics  library 
books,  working  out  club  projects,  and  having  special  lectures  on  dietetics, 
textiles,  household  management,  health,  poultry  raising,  home  dressmaking 
and  use  of  machine  attachments,  and  home  dyeing,  are  some  of  the  things 
done.  Others  are  using  moving  picture  machines  on  educational  subjects 
for  the  home  maker,  keeping  up  community  centers,  teaching  the  work  of 
the  pressure  cooker  and  studying  family  marketing. 

Some  good  resolutions  were  passed  at  the  Monmouth  meeting,  among 
them  the  following:  Sensible  children's  clothes,  more  knowledge  of  house- 
hold fabrics,  need  of  more  consolidated  schools  and  county  health  centers, 
harmony  in  all  home  economic  organizations,  full  attendance  at  the  state 
fair  school  and  good  meeting  places  for  institutes. 

The  officers  elected  for  the  coming  year  are:  President,  Dr.  Eva  M. 
Wilson,  Manhattan,  1st  Vice-President,  Mrs.  S.  E.  Bradt,  DeKalb,  2nd  Vice- 
President,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Van  Gundy,  Monmouth.  The  Department  voted  unani- 
mously for  the  secretary  to  be  recommended  for  another  year. 

Credentials  were  returned  from  forty-eight  counties. 

The  secretary  has  been  given  a  place  on  the  membership  committee  of 
the  new  Illinois  Home  Economics  Association.  She  has  been  named  on  the 
food  and  supply  committee  of  the  Illinois  League  of  Women  Voters.  This 
will  keep  the  Department  in  touch  with  all  organizations  in  the  State. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

MBS.  H.  A.  MCKEENE,  Secretary. 

Moved  that  the  report  be  received  and  placed  on  file.  Seconded  and 
carried. 

President  Wilson,  of  the  Department  of  Household  Science,  spoke  regard- 
ing the  function  of  the  committee  named  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  De- 
partment in  Monmouth,  to  confer  with  the  University  relative  to  more 
active  co-operation  in  household  science  work,  throughout  the  State.  She 
also  outlined  plans  for  a  rural  home  survey  in  which  the  Department  is 
interested. 

Moved  that  consideration  of  these  matters  be  referred  to  the  new  board. 
Seconded  and  carried. 

The  secretary  presented  the  following  report  of  the  Convention  of  Dele- 
gates held  at  Monmouth,  February  22,  1922: 


TRANSACTION   OP   THE   CONVENTION   OF   DELEGATES, 
MONMOUTH,  ILLINOIS,  FEBRUARY  22,  1922. 

REPORT   OF   COMMITTEE   ON    CREDENTIALS. 

To    the    Convention    of   Delegates,   Illinois   Farmers'    Institute,    Honmouth, 

Illinois, 

GENTLEMEN:  We,  your  committee  on  credentials,  beg  leave  to  report 
that  we  have  examined  the  credentials  of  the  delegates  representing  the 
various  congressional  districts  and  find  the  following  named  persons  entitled 
to  seats  in  this  convention: 

Districts  1  to  10  inclusive,  L.  C.  Brown,  C.  C.  Pickett,  Charles  Gray,  J.  S. 
Denman. 

District  No.  11.  E.  A.  Carncross,  Mrs.  A.  H.  Seaton,  C.  V.  Gregory, 
H.  Lees,  J.  P.  Mason,  H.  E.  McDonough,  C  J.  Luther,  Mrs.  James  Owen. 

District  No.  12.  James  Gough,  D.  L.  Hilderbrand,  John  Burke,  A.  H. 
Wixon,  George  F.  Tullock,  Clinton  T.  Glenny,  Fay  Stewart. 

District  No.  13.  Charles  Bicklehaupt,  W.  G.  Curtiss,  Charles  Arnold, 
Boyd  Ritchie,  G.  A.  Lazier,  A.  W.  Johnson,  A.  N.  Abbott,  Edward  Devine. 

District  No.  14.  I.  A.  Whitcomb,  G.  A.  Switzer,  Otis  Twaddle,  J.  E. 
Stickle,  J.  W.  Sprout,  R.  D.  Kyle,  Carl  Stewart. 

District  No.  15.  Julius  Cline,  Dr.  W.  E.  Mercer,  F.  A.  Gougler,  J.  E. 
Mummert,  Arthur  Brown,  J.  W.  Wertman,  O.  W.  Hoit,  W.  K.  Clifford,  O.  L. 
Campbell,  E.  M.  D.  Bracker,  G.  E.  Gentle. 


195 

District  No.  16.  C.  C.  Pervier,  Ferris  Rowcliff,  Oscar  Graves,  Ralph 
Allen,  Jr. 

District  No.  17.  Jas.  Molloy,  J.  C.  Meis,  W.  F.  Coolidge,  A.  J.  Bill, 
J.  R.  Holbert. 

District  No.  18.  Chester  R.  Boland,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gumm,  John  O. 
Honnold,  O.  L.  Grey,  George  S.  Hoff. 

District  No.  19.  Herbert  Grady,  Charles  M.  Weller,  C.  C.  Hendrich, 
John  K.  Wheeler. 

District  No.  20.  C.  E.  Himmel,  J.  F.  Sanmann,  C.  C.  Juhl,  C.  W. 
Houghton. 

District  No.  21.  Frank  Hurrelbrin'k,  Clair  E.  Hay,  R.  R.  Hills,  Lena 
D.  Hills,  Adelia  Roberts,  C.  L.  Whitlock,  Mrs.  Henry  Mitts,  Miss  Clara 
Attebury,  Col.  W.  F.  Merriman,  James  E.  Caldwell. 

District  No.  22.  H.  P.  Patheal,  Frank  Troeckler,  Henry  Bartelmeier, 
Frank  Schlemer,  William  J.  Weber,  Marcellus  Hartman,  Fred  Mitchell, 
Sherman  Stookey,  W.  F.  Miller. 

District  No.  23.     N.   F.   Goodwin,   H.    H.   Bailey,   Jos.    Oldfleld. 

District  No.  24. 

District  No.  25.     Gilbert  Bigham,  Clinton  Reith,  O.  G.  Broleman. 

(Signed)     O.  W.  HOIT, 

E.  WRIGHT  ALLEN, 

Committee  on  Credentials. 

REPORTS   OF   DELEGATES. 

The  delegates  representing  the  odd-numbered  congressional  districts 
held  their  elections  and  reported  to  the  convention  the  election  of  Directors 
for  the  ensuing  term  as  follows: 

1st.  District.     Ira  B.  Reed,  Glen  View. 

3rd  District.     Adam   Schilling,  Tinley  Park. 

5th  District.     C.  V.   Gregory,   Chicago. 

7th  District.     Chas.  Gray,  Chicago. 

9th  District.     Clayton   C.   Pickett,   Chicago, 
llth  District.     J.   P.   Mason,   Elgin. 
13th  District.     W.  G.  Curtiss,  Stockton. 
15th  District.     Frank  S.  Haynes,  Geneseo. 
17th  District.     S.  B.  Mason,  Bloomington. 
19th  District.     John  K.  Wheeler,  Cerro  Gordo. 
21st  District.     No  election. 
23rd  District.     N.  F.  Goodwin,  Palestine. 
25th  District.     Harry  Wilson,  Pinckneyville. 
The  ex  officio  directors  are: 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — F.  G.  Blair,  Springfield. 
Dean  of  the  College  of  Agriculture — Eugene  Davenport,  Urbana. 
Director  State  Department  of  Agriculture — B.   M.  Davison,   Springfield. 
President  State  Horticultural  Society — F.  H.  Simpson,  Flora. 
President  State  Dairymen's  Association — J.  P.  Mason,  Elgin. 
On  motion,  the  election  of  directors  was  unanimously  approved  and  the 
convention  adjourned. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
(Signed)     H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary  of  Convention. 

On  motion  the  report  was  approved  and  ordered  placed  on  file. 
No  other  business  appearing,  the  board  adjourned  and  the  new  board 
convened,  President  Mann  presiding. 

Present:  Directors,  Barrett,  Brown,  Burroughs,  E.  W.  Calhoun,  Cur- 
tiss, Geweke,  Gray,  Haynes,  Hopping,  Mann,  Mason,  S.  B.  Pickett,  Reed, 
Schilling,  Simpson,  Switzer,  Tullock,  Wheeler  and  Wilson. 

On  motipn  the  election  of  officers  was  made  the  order  of  business. 


196 

The  chairman  appointed  Directors  Tullock  and  Pickett  tellers,  and  the 
balloting  proceeded,  resulting  in  the  election  of  the  following  officers: 

President,  Frank  I.  Mann. 

Vice-President,  Ralph  Allen. 

Secretary,   H.   E.   Young. 

Auditor-Treasurer,  Clayton  C.  Pickett. 

On  motion  Mrs.  H.  A.  McKeene  was  reelected  secretary  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Household  Science. 

The  secretary  presented  a  report  of  the  accredited  delegates  represent- 
ing the  21st  Congressional  District  in  the  convention  at  Monmouth,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1922,  advising  the  Board  of  a  tie  vote  on  the  Directorship,  which 
result  was  reported  to  the  convention  with  the  recommendation  that  the 
matter  be  referred  to  the  Board  for  consideration  and  action. 

Director  Haynes  moved  that  Mr.  Leigh  Maxcy,  of  Farmingdale,  San- 
gamon  County,  be  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  director  in  the  21st  District, 
resulting  from  no  election  at  the  annual  meeting,  and  in  compliance  with 
the  recommendations  of  the  delegates  as  expressed  in  its  communication 
to  the  Board.  Seconded  and  carried. 

Director  Haynes,  as  a  member  of  a  special  committee  with  President 
Mann,  reported  that  inasmuch  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  House- 
hold Science  is  also  serving  the  State  Department  of  Agriculture  as  Secre- 
tary of  its  State  Fair  School  for  Girls,  and  as  this  service  involves  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  work  which  the  Secretary  should  not  be  expected  to 
handle  without  additional  stenographic  help,  and  as  the  officers  and  execu- 
tive committee  feel  that  this  help  should  properly  be  supplied  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  whose  school  is  being  served,  the  matter  had  been 
taken  up  with  Director  B.  M.  Davison,  who  assured  the  committee  that  he 
would  willingly  supply  the  Secretary  with  the  services  of  a  stenographer 
as  needed,  at  any  and  all  times,  such  assistance  to  be  used  by  the  Secretary 
as  she  may  direct. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  President,  it  was  moved  that  the  report  of 
this  special  committee  be  approved,  and  made  a  part  of  the  official  record 
of  the  Board.  Seconded  and  carried. 

On  motion,  recess  was  taken  until  1:15  P.  M. 

AFTEBNOON   SESSION. 

The  Board  reconvened  at  the  appointed  hour,  and  the  chairman  an- 
nounced that  the  hearing  of  the  visiting  delegations  was  the  first  order  of 
business.  Delegations  from  Belleville,  Dixon,  Lincoln  and  Paris  presented 
invitations  for  entertaining  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Institute.  An 
invitation  was  also  received  from  the  University  signed  by  Presdent  Kinley 
and  Dean  Davenport. 

Director  Tullock  presented  an  invitation  from  Rockford  to  entertain 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Institute  in  1924,  and  Director  Wheeler 
announced  that  Decatur  is  also  desirous  of  the  1924  meeting. 

Moved  that  the  board  proceed  to  ballot  on  the  location  of  the  next 
annual  meeting,  the  first  ballot  being  informal.  Seconded  and  Carried. 

The   chairman   appointed   Directors   Reed   and   Pickett   tellers. 

The  result  of  the  first  formal  ballot  showed  a  majority  vote  in  favor  of 
Belleville,  and  on  motion,  duly  made  and  seconded,  Belleville  was  made 
the  unanimous  choice,  providing  that  the  facilities  offered  were  found  to  be 
adequate. 

Moved  that  the  recommendations  of  the  secretary  to  print  several  of 
the  Monmouth  addresses  as  bulletins  prior  to  the  annual  report  be  referred 
to  the  executive  committee  for  consideration  and'  action.  Seconded  and 
carried. 

Moved  that  the  expenses  of  the  committee  of  the  Department  of  House- 
hold Science  as  appointed  at  Monmouth  be  taken  care  of  from  the  Institute 
expense  fund.  Seconded  and  carried. 

Director  Brown  suggested  that  more  local  speakers  be  used  at  the 
county  institutes,  and  that  the  programs  be  planned  so  as  the  work  may 
be  linked  up  more  closely  with  that  of  the  Smith-Hughes  high  schools. 


197 

Director  S.  B.  Mason  suggested  that  institute  speakers  be  taken  to  the 
schools  wherever  possible,  and  that  both  speakers  and  institute  officers 
be  urged  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered  in  this  line. 

Moved  that  the  revision  of  the  speakers  list  be  referred  to  the  execu- 
tive committee,  and  that  the  directors  advise  the  secretary  of  new  speakers 
available  for  work.  Seconded  and  carried. 

Moved  that  the  Secretary  extend  to  Director  Allen  the  sympathy  of 
the  Board  and  express  to  him  its  regret  that  he  is  unable  to  meet  with  the 
members  at  this  time.  Seconded  and  carried. 

On  motion  the  board  adjourned. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 


MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  HELD 
AT  BELLEVILLE,  JUNE  9,  1922. 

Pursuant  to  the  call  of  the  president  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee was  held  in  Belleville,  June  9,  1922. 

Present:     Directors  Mann,  Curtiss  and  Burroughs. 

The  committee  inspected  the  facilities  offered  for  the  holding  of  the 
State  Meeting  in  February  and  conferred  with  representatives  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  County  Farmers'  Institute,  and  County  Farm  Bureau  re- 
garding detailed  arrangements  and  program.  The  Lyric  Theatre  and  the 
Elks  Club  Building  were  found  to  be  centrally  located  and  well  equipped 
as  meeting  places  for  both  the  Institute  and  the  Department  of  Household 
Science.  The  hotel  facilities  are  not  as  commodious  as  desired  but  with 
the  supply  of  available  rooms  in  private  homes  which  are  promised  will, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  serve  the  requirements  of  the  meeting  very 
well. 

On  motion  duly  made  and  carried,  and  as  the  results  of  its  visit  of 
inspection,  the  committee  formally  accepted  Belleville  as  the  location  of  the 
State  Institute  for  1923,  Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Friday,  February  21, 
22  and  23,  being  selected  as  the  definite  date  for  the  event. 

On  motion  this  committee  adjourned, 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 


MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  BOARD   OF  DIRECTORS 
AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA,  JUNE  14  AND  15, 

On  the  invitation  of  the  Dean  of  Agriculture  and  the  Soils 
a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  was  held  at  the  College  of  Apiculture, 
University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  Jug^l4th  and 
15th,  1922. 

Present:  Directors  Barrett,  Brown,  Curtiss,  Davenport,Aregory>  Hop- 
ing, Mann,  Mason,  J.  P.  Mason,  S.  B.  Pickett,  Reed,  SchlPng,  Simpson, 
Switzer,  Tullock,  and  Wilson. 

The  members  met  at  the  Dean's  office  at  9  o'clock  onj^e  morning  of  the 
14th,  and  attended  the  University  Commencement  Exe/lses  in  a 
the  guests  of  President  Kinley  and  officiated  as  the  pe^onal  escort 
Davenport,  who  delivered  the  Commencement  addresp    The  aft.^rn^f  and 
the  following  day  were  devoted  to  an  inspection  of/ne  Unjversity^tSi  tbe 
crop  experiment  fields,  the  animal  husbandry  ay  dairy  dePa<Jgnt  Station 
horticultural  grounds,  and  the  various  university  and  ^x^5uldance  of  tbf 
laboratories.     These  inspection  tours  were  mad*  under  t^e^e  Caching  »*? 
heads  of  the  various  departments,  assisted  by  memb*rs  instructive  to  au- 
experimental  staffs,  and  proved  intensely  in^reptin^  Opportunity  tbaS.  a<{ 
Every  member  present  voiced  his  appreciation  °f  l       °  n0nege  of  ASrlc 
corded  the  Board  of  seeing  and  studying  »e  work  Jj1  expressing  tbeir  most 
ture  and  Experiment   Station,   and  were  a  unit 


198 

hearty  thanks  to  Dean  Davenport  and  the  other  University  heads,  depart- 
ment professors  and  assistants  for  their  generous  courtesies  which  made 
the  meeting  so  extremely  profitable. 

While  no  formal  session  of  the  Board  was  convened  at  the  meeting,  it 
was  unanimously  voted  to  make  it  a  matter  of  record. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  E.  YOUNG,  Secretary. 


\ 


199 


AUDITOR'S  REPORT. 


To  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute. 

GENTLEMEN:  As  your  auditor,  I  beg  leave  to  report  that  I  have  duly 
examined  the  claims  of  the  parties  named  below;  that  I  approve  the  same 
and  recommend  that  warrants  in  payment  of  said  vouchers  be  drawn  for 
the  following  amounts: 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                      To  whom.                                                       For  what.  No.       Amount. 

1  July   Salaries   Office   Help   1  $72666 

2  August   Salaries    Office   help 1  726  66 

3  Springfield    Clean   Towel   Service.  ...Towel    Supply     2  120 

4  Hillier's    Fireproof    Transfer Drayage     2  193 

5  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph  Service    2  1333 

6  American  Railway  Express  Co Express  Service  2  6  32 

7  Fred  P.  Schlitt  Hooks   2  60 

8  Merchants  Transfer  &  Storage  Co...Drayage    2  180 

9  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice  Supply  2  140 

10  Central  Union  Telephone  Co Telephone  Service   2  4  10 

11  September   Salaries    Office   help 1  726  66 

12  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph  Service   2  1  06 

13  Springfield    Clean   Towel   Service Towel    Supply     2  120 

14  R.   H.   Armbruster  Co Tent   rent    2  2050 

15  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice  supply 2  1  40 

16  Central  Union  Telephone  Co Telephone    service    2  685 

17  Geo.  A.   Switzer Expenses   as   director 6  1006 

18  W.    G.    Curtiss do 6  54  27 

19  H.   Clay   Calhoun do 6  2689 

20  C.  V.   Gregory do : 6  17  70 

21  C.  C.  Pickett do , 6  24  71 

22  H.    E.    Young Secretary's    expense     6  5672 

23  F.I.Mann Expenses   as   director 6  4085 

24  October  Salaries  Office   help 1  726  66 

25  Springfield   Clean   Towel   Service Towel    Supply     2  120 

26  Western    Union    Telegraph    Co Telegraph    service    2  286 

27  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice  supply    2  1  75 

28  Central  Union  Telephone  Co Telephone    service     2  770 

29  American  Railway  Express  Co Express    service    2  1  96 

30  James    T.    Powers Faucet    2  350 

31  Carleton    Trimble    Speakers   fee 5  1000 

32  Elizabeth    McCormick    Fund do 5  1000 

33  A.    N.    Abbott do 5  2000 

34  Wm.   Webb   do 5  6000 

35  E.    B.   Landis do 5  1000 

36  Walter  Garvey  do 5  2000 

37  Mrs.  F.  I.  Mann do 5  4000 

38  Mrs.   C.   E.   Moore do 5  1000 

39  H.    P.   Irish do 5  1000 

40  Clara    Ingram    Judson do 5  5000 

41  Mrs    Grace  Viall  Gray do 5  40  00 

42  Margaret    E.    Brooks do 5  70  00 

43  D.    T.    Heimlich do 5  7000 

44  Henry  R.  Rathbone do 5  40  00 

45  Clas.    Paoner    do 5  5000 

46  O.   C.   Pervier ..do 5  5000 

47  D.   E>.    Hale do 5  1500 

48  Samuel  Crabtree  do 5  20  00 

49  Dr.  Eva  M.  Wilson Expenses  as  H.  S.  officer 6  2081 

50  George   F.    Tullock Expenses    as    director 6  1874 

51  Roy  Naugle  Expenses   Saline   Co.    Inst 7  7500 

52  John    A.    Love Expenses  Hardin  Co.   Inst 7  6466 

53  G.  M.  Nirider Expenses  Marion  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

54  November    Salaries    Office   help 1  726  66 

55  Striffler   Ice    &    Coal    Co Ice  supply 2  140 

56  Springfield  Clean  Towel  Co Towel  supply   2  1  20 

57  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph   service    2  591 


200 


AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Continued. 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                      To  whom.                                                        For  what.  No.        Amount. 

58  Central   Union   Telephone    Co Telephone   service    2  3575 

59  Meyer  Electric  Co Cord  and  sockets 2  1  75 

59a  Wm.    H.    Conkling Postage    2  20000 

60  Mrs.   E.   W.   Burroughs Speakers   fee 5  5000 

61  Mrs.  F.  I.  Mann do 5  12000 

62  Mrs.  H.  M.  Dunlap do 5  8000 

63  A.    C.    Everingham do 5  24000 

64  Bert.   L.   Thomas do 5  1000 

65  Chas.  Foss  do 5  1000 

66  Elizabeth  McCormick  Fund do 5  10  00 

67  Mrs.   Grace  Viall  Gray do 5  5000 

68  R.  B.  Doan do 5  3000 

69  Chas.    Taylor    do 5  1000 

70  Julia  Klein   ..do 5  1000 

71  J.   D.   Waters do 5  1000 

72  Wm.  Bone   do 5  4000 

73  E.    E.    Pifer    do 5  1000 

74  Mrs.    C.   E.   Moore do 5  1000 

75  J.    W.    Stanton do 5  2000 

76  A.    W.    Brayton ..do 5  1000 

77  Edw.    Schneider .do 5  10  00 

78  Carleton    Trimble    ..do 5  1000 

79  Clara    Ingram   Judson .do 5  20  00 

80  Francis  D.  Abbott do 5  10  00 

81  J.    B.    Burrows do 5  1000 

82  C.   A.   Bracy ..do 5  1000 

83  Margaret   E.   Brooks .do 5  90  00 

84  Carl   Baer    ..do 5  1000 

85  C.    C.    Pervier    do 5  8000 

86  D.    T.    Heimlich do 5  20  00 

87  E.    B.    Landis do 5  3000 

88  H.   A.  Winter ..do 5  5000 

89  J.    R.    Lambert ..do 5  1000 

90  Mrs.   W.   J.   Fulton do 5  3000 

91  Walter    Rowe    do 5  5000 

92  W.    E.   Holben do 5  5000 

93  Mrs.    Lena    Mann Expenses  as  H.   S.   officer 6  1070 

94  Chas.    Foss    Expenses   as    speaker 6  1424 

95  J.   B.   Burrows Expenses   as   director 6  1894 

96  R.     O.     Clarida Expenses    as    speaker 6  1367 

97  Otto    Rheinhardt    Expenses   Pike   Co.   Inst 7  5903 

98  H.    W.    Holifield Expenses  Massac  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

99  Chas.   Noble    Expenses   Johnson    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

100  Frank  W.   Keith Expenses   Perry   Co.    Inst 7  7500 

101  I.    N.    Forte Expenses  Crawford  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

102  F.    W.    Reitz Expenses   Clay   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

103  James    Doherty    Expenses    Gallatin   Co.    Inst 7  6090 

104  Edgar  Riley    Expenses  Coles  Co.  Inst 7  6977 

105  R.    B.    Endicott Expenses    Pulaski    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

106  Ethel   Kimmel   Expenses    Williamson    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

107  C.    F.    Worner Expenses    Mason    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

108  Ed.    H.    Bowen Expenses    Hamilton    Co.    Inst 7  6747 

109  D.   M.   Maikhill Expenses  Franklin   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

110  C.     L.    Hawkins Expenses  Adams  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

111  J.   Logan  Unland Expenses   Tazewell    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

112  L.    A.    Gowdy Expenses   White    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

113  C.    A.    Griffith Expenses  Fayette   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

114  December   Salaries    Office   help 1  72666 

115  Springfield    Clean   Towel   Service.... Towel  supply   2  120 

116  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice   supply    2  1  05 

117  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph    service    2  418 

118  Central  Union  Telephone  Co Telephone   service    2  1210 

119  J.   B.  Burrows Speakers   fee 5  1000 

120  Mrs.    Mary    S.    Boal do 5  4000 

121  Mrs.    J.    M.    Daniels do 5  9000 

122  O.  M.  McGhee do 5  1000 

123  H.P.Irish do 5  3000 

124  H.   H.    Bailey do 5  12000 

125  Mrs.   C.   E.   Moore do 5  1000 

126  J.  P.  Mason do 5  10000 

127  Margaret    E.    Brooks do 5  2000 

128  E.    B.   Landis ..do 5  2000 

129  Wm.    Webb    do 5  2000 

130  Dr.    Eva   M.    Wilson ..do 5  13000 

131  L.    A.    Richardson do 5  6000 

132  Carleton  Trimble  do 5  1000 

133  Mrs.    Geo.    Meyer do 5  1000 

134  Mrs.   Rufus  Beard .....do 5  2000 


201 


AUDITOR'S  REPORT—  Continued. 

Voucher 

Fund 

No.                     To  whom. 

For  what. 

No. 

Amount. 

135    H.    B.    Piper  

...  Speakers    fee    

5 

10  00 

136    Merchants'   Transfer   Co  

...  Moving     

2 

75 

137    Wm.    H.    Smith  

.  .  .  Packing   books    

2 

48  75 

138    Geo.    W.    Hudson  

...Rubber  stamp    

2 

50 

139    Wm.   H.    Conkling  

.  .  .  Postage     

2 

200  00 

140    Mrs.    H.    A.    McKeene  

...H.    S.    Secretary's    expense  

6 

48  32 

141    J.    B.   Burrows  

—  Expenses   as  director  

6 

24  26 

142    J.    P.    Mason  

do  

6 

22  59 

143    Mary    S.    Boal  

...Expenses  as  speaker  

6 

4  25 

144    Mrs.   H.  A.  McKeene  

...H.  S.  Secretary's  expense  

6 

10  72 

145    R.  E.  Muckelroy  

...Expenses    as    director  

6 

57  48 

146    H.    E.    Young  

.  .  .Secretary's  expense  

6 

27  16 

147    Frank    S.    Haynes  

...Expenses  as   director  

6 

21  70 

148    J.    L.    Miller  

.  .  .  Expenses  Jackson  Co.   Inst  

7 

44  35 

148    Ralph    Newell    

...Expenses    Cass    Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    R.   L.   Eyman  

.  .  .  Expenses   Jersey   Co.   Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    Wm.   Byrnes   

...Expenses  Peoria  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    Roy  Edmiston   

—  Expenses  Randolph  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    Leander   Wooden    

...Expenses  Jefferson  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    Mrs.  J.  A.  Worthington  

...Expenses  Union  Co.   Inst  

7 

60  64 

148    James  Manley   

...Expenses  Wabash  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    M.    C.   Jones    

...Expenses  Douglas  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    Clayton   C.    Pickett  

Expenses    Cook    Co.    Inst  

7 

73  34 

148    Henry    Shew     

...Expenses  Jasper  Co.   Inst  

7 

37  71 

148    Fred    A.    Long  

...Expenses    Hardin   Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    G.    A.    Lazier  

...Expenses   Ogle   Co.   Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    F.  V.   Wilson  

...Expenses  Effingham  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

148    Elmer  G.   Vortman  

.  .  .Expenses   Scott   Co.   Inst  

7 

75  00 

149    Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co  

...Ice  supply   

2 

1  75 

150    Western    Union    Telegraph    Co  

...Telegraph    service     

2 

1  65 

151    Illinois    Bell   Telephone   Co  

...Telephone   service    

2 

14  35 

152    Wm.    H.    Conkling  

.  .  .  Postage     

2 

150  00 

153    Elizabeth  McCormick  Fund  

.  .  .Speakers  fee  

5 

40  00 

154    Samuel   Crabtree   

do  

5 

30  00 

155    A.    C.    Everingham  

do  

5 

110  00 

156    C.    C.    Pervier  

do  

5 

90  00 

157    J.    B.    Burrows  

do  

5 

10  00 

158    H.  C.  McCarrel  

do  

5 

160  00 

159    Mrs.   W.   J.   Fulton  

do  

5 

40  00 

160    Grace    Viall     Gray  

do  

5 

50  00 

161     Margaret    E.    Brooks  

do  

5 

30  00 

162    H.    A.    Winter  

do  

5 

60  00 

163    F.    I.    Mann  

do  

5 

120  00 

164    Wm.   Osburn   

do  

5 

20  00 

165    Springfield    Clean   Towel   Service. 

.  .  .Towel  supply   

2 

1  20 

166    L.    C.    Brown  

.  .  .Speakers   fee  

5 

20  00 

167    Leigh   Maxcy    

do  

5 

20  00 

168    Ralph  Allen    

do  

5 

10  00 

169    E.  A.  White   

do  

5 

30  00 

170    I.   W.   Dickerson  

do  

5 

40  00 

171    Walter  Rowe    

do  

5 

20  00 

172    Mrs.    Alma    Giles  

do  

5 

10  00 

173    W.   E.   Holben  

do  

5 

30  00 

174    A.   W.   Brayton  

do  

5 

20  00 

175    Mrs.    Samuel  E.   Bradt  

...Expenses    as    H.    S.    officer  

6 

10  55 

176    Geo.     A.     Switzer  ,, 

....Expenses    as    director  

6 

15  92 

177    F.   I.   Mann    

do  

6 

15  01 

178    O.    L.    Wakefield  

do  

6 

25  22 

179    D.    M.    Marlin  

do  

6 

49  84 

180    Ralph   Allen    

do  

6 

58  84 

181    Eva  M.   Wilson  

do  

6 

10  75 

182    J.   H.    Rainey  

...Expenses    Montgomery    Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    W.  G.  Jones  

...Expenses    McDonough    Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    Morton   E.    Thomas  

....Expenses  Greene  Co.   Inst  

7 

70  69 

182    Carl    J.    Hacker  

...Expenses  Pope  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    O.    W.    Neher  

...Expenses  Lee  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    R.    B.    Grissom  

.  .  ..Expenses   Cumberland   Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    Jones    Tontz    

.  .  .  Expenses  Marshall   Co.   Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    Geo.    B.    Herrick  

...Expenses  Shelby  Co.   Inst  

7 

74  03 

182    Harrv   Hall    

.  .  .  Expenses   Schuyler  Co.   Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    Ora   I.   Miller  

...Expenses    Wayne    Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    H.    B.    Piper  

...Expenses  Richland  Co.  Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    Phil   Richards    

...Expenses  Hancock   Co.   Inst  

7 

75  00 

182    John   Schroeder  

...Expenses   Iroquois   Co.    Inst  

7 

75  00 

183    January   Salaries    

...Office    help    

1 

736  66 

184    W.    E.   Holben  

...Expenses   as   director  

6 

14  15 

185    Alma  G.  H.   Giles  

do  

6 

4  60 

186    H.    E.    Young  ."  

...Secretary's   expense    

6 

48  32 

202 

AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Continued. 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                       To  whom.                                                        For  what.  No.  Amount. 

187  February   Salaries    Office    help 1  69666 

188  Addressograph   Co Addressograph  ribbon    2  75 

189  American   Railway   Express    Co Express    2  271 

190  Wm.   H.   Conkling Postage    2  20000 

191  Illinois  Bell  Telephone  Co Telephone  service  2  2300 

192  Macpherson   &   Edward Badge  ribbon   2  405 

193  Wm.    Riley    Packing    books    2  3000 

194  Springfield    Clean   Towel    Service.... Towel  supply   2  1  20 

195  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice   supply    2  1  40 

196  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph   service    2  547 

197  H.   H.   Bailey Speakers   fee 5  3000 

198  Mary  S.  Boal do 5  8000 

199  A.    W.    Bray  ton do 5  1000 

200  Margaret  E.   Brooks ..do 5  11000 

201  L.  C.  Brown do 5  4000 

202  Dr.    W.    W.    Diehl do 5  2000 

203  R.    B.    Doan do 5  10  00 

204  Mrs.  H.   M.  Dunlap do 5  8000 

205  H.  M.  Dunlap do 5  1000 

206  A.   C.   Everingham do 5  22000 

207  Charles  Farr  do 5  1000 

208  Elizabeth  McCormick  Fund do 5  50  00 

209  Mrs.  W.  J.  Fulton do 5  11000 

210  Alma  G.   H.   Giles do 5  1000 

211  Grace  Viall  Gray do 5  15000 

212  D  wight  E.   Hale do 5  15  00 

213  D.  T.  Heimlich do 5  70  00 

214  Clara    Ingram   Judson do 5  2000 

215  Mrs.   J.   L.    Murray do 5  18000 

216  Wm.    Qsburn do 5  5250 

217  Oliarles  E.  Palmer do 5  3000 

218  Clayton    C.    Pervier do 5  21000 

219  Henry    R.    Rathbone do 5  70  00 

220  Burton    R.     Rogers do 5  3000 

221  Mrs.   C.   W.   Sewell do 5  2000 

222  Bert    L.    Thomae do 5  1000 

223  Eva   M.    Wilson do 5  21000 

224  H.  A.  Winter do 5  11000 

225  C.   J.   Leinbach Expenses  Boone  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

225  J.    Ray    Stanner Expenses   Champaign   Co.    Inst — 7  7500 

225  John  G.  Hill Expenses   Christian   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  P.  L.   Kelley Expenses   Clark   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  J.    H.    Huelsmann Expenses    Clinton    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

225  Irwin   Thorp    Expenses   DeWitt  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  Joseph    S.    Boo Expenses  Fulton  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

225  P.   A.    Peterson Expenses  Grundy  Co.  Inst 7  75  00 

225  J.  P.  Carson Expenses  JoDaviess  Co.  Inst 7  75  00 

225  Frank    Peck    Expenses  Kane  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  E.    P.    Bacon Expenses  Lake  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  H.    M.    Zater Expenses    Logan    Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  H.    W.    Phillips Expenses   Macon   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  C.  H.   Ocock Expenses    McHenry    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

225  C.    E.    Hill Expenses    McLean    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

225  W.    P.   Wright Expenses    Moultrie    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

225  James  E.    Caldwell Expenses  Sangamon  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

225  H.    B.    Thurston Expenses   Stark   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  J.    H.    Checkley Expenses  Vermilion  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

225  J.    H.    Martin Expenses  Whiteside  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

225  Fay    Steward    Expenses  Winnebago  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

226  Eva   M.   Wilson Expenses   as   H.   S.   Officer 6  5313 

227  H.    C.    McCarrel Expenses    as    speaker 6  2250 

228  Frank  9.   Haynes Expenses  as   director 6  3128 

229  John    S.    Fleming Expenses    State    meeting 6  2526 

230  E.    W,    Burroughs Expenses    as    director.' 6  3537 

231  E.    Wright    Allen Expenses    State    meeting 6  1899 

232  Carl  J.  Baer do 6  1889 

233  Mary  L.   Langworthy do 6  1853 

234  Mrs.    H.    A.    McKeene... .~. H.    S.    Secretary's   expense 6  3063 

235  L.    C.    Brown Expenses   as   director 6  1899 

236  Margia   B.    Haugh Expenses    State    meeting 6  1873 

237  H.    E.    Young Secretary's   expense    6  2885 

238  March    Salaries    Office    help 1  69666 

239  Wm.   H.   Conkling   Postage    2  200  00 

240  Illinois  Bell  Telephone  Co Telephone   service    2  4720 

241  Springfield  Clean  Towel  Service Towel  supply   2  1  20 

242  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice   supply   2  1  40 

243  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph   service    2  436 

244  R.    F.    Herndon Badge  ribbon   .' 2  1  35 


203 

AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Continued. 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                      To  whom.                                                       For  what.  No.        Amount. 

245  Chas.  Farr  Speakers    fee    5  4000 

246  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gumm do 5  40  00 

247  Mrs.    Bertha    Harris do 5  110  00 

248  0.   0.  Logan do 5  1000 

249  Wm.     Osburn do 5  5000 

250  Dr.   Lena  K.   Sadler do 5  1000 

251  Wm.    Webb    do 5  7000 

252  Earl    W.    Mounts Expenses    Bureau   Co.    Inst 7  75  00 

252  Oliver   Bulond    Expenses   Livingston  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

252  L.    S.    Dorsey Expenses  Madison  Co.  Inst 7  75  00 

252  J.    W.    Hall Expenses  Macoupin   Co.   Inst 7  74  63 

252  J.    K.    Kincaid Expenses   Menard   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

252  E.   R.   Hembrough Expenses  Morgan  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

252  Fred    Mitchell    Expenses   St.    Clair   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

252  L.    F.    Ochs Expenses   Washington    Co.    Inst 7  75  00 

253  Mrs.    Geo.    Arbeiter Speakers  fee  6  1000 

254  Carl  J.  Baer... do 6  2500 

255  H.   H.    Bailey ..do 6  1000 

256  Lura    Bartholomew do 6  10  00 

257  Mary  S.  Boal ..do '. 6  1000 

258  W.    A.    Cochel do 6  25  00 

259  John    S.    Collier do 6  10  00 

260  Mrs.    H.    M.    Dunlap do 6  2000 

261  Joe  Fulkerson   do 6  1000 

262  Ray    Gardner    do 6  10  00 

263  Alma  Halbower   Giles do 6  1000 

264  F.   A.   Gougler ..do 6  1000 

265  Grace   Viall   Gray    ..do 6  1000 

266  Mrs.  Maude  C.  Hessler .do 6  10  00 

267  James    R.    Holbert ..do 6  1000 

268  Clara    Ingram   Judson .do 6  50  00 

269  H.   H.    Kildee ..do. 6  2500 

270  Mary  Langvvorthy do 6  15  00 

271  Mrs.    Lena    S.    Mann ..do 6  1000 

272  J.    C.    Meis do 6  1000 

273  Bertha   H.    Miner ..do 6  1000 

274  J.   S.   Montgomery do 6  2500 

275  M.    L.    Mosher ..do 6  1000 

276  Carl    Vrooman '. ..do 6  25  00 

277  Eva   M.    Wilson do 6  10  00 

278  A.   N.  Abbott Expenses   as   director 6  14  22 

279  Mrs.    Geo.    Arbeiter Expenses    State    meeting 6  1867 

280  H.   H.   Bailey ..do 6  2228 

281  Lura    Bartholomew do 6  1892 

282  Mary  S.  Boal do 6  2022 

283  L.   C.   Brown Expenses   as   director 6  1768 

284  Emma   C.   Burroughs Expenses  State  meeting 6  2331 

285  E.    W.    Burroughs Expenses   as   director 6  2674 

286  J.   B.   Burroughs do 6  548 

287  H.    Clay  Calhoun do 6  5022 

288  John    S.    Collier Expenses  State  meeting 6  2636 

289  W.   G.   Curtiss Expenses   as   director 6  81  43 

290  E.   Davenport   Expenses    State    meeting 6  1932 

291  Mrs.    H.   M.   Dunlap do 6  2203 

292  A.    Geweke Expenses    as    director 6  4037 

293  Alma   Halbower  Giles Expenses  State  meeting 6  862 

294  F.   A.    Gougler do 6  1072 

295  Grace    Viall    Gray do 6  17  50 

296  Charles   Gray    Expenses  as   director 6  4397 

297  V.   S.   Haynes do 6  41  67 

298  W.    E.    Holben do 6      '         22  77 

299  J.    R.    Holbert Expenses    State    meeting 6  1006 

300  G.    G.   Hopping Expenses   as   director 6  3119 

301  Clara  Ingram  Judson Expenses    State    meeting 6  2275 

302  H.   H.   Kildee do 6  22  19 

303  W.    R.    Matheny do 6  2030 

304  Inez  M.  Miner ..do 6  859 

305  Bertha   M.    Miner .do 6  14  07 

306  J.   S.   Montgomery do 6  4958 

307  M.    L.    Mosher .do 6  7  82 

308  Mrs.    J.    L.    Murray do 6  1495 

309  Clayton    C.    Pickett Expenses    as    director 6  5280 

310  Ira  B.  Reed ..do 6  1766 

311  F.   H.    Simpson Expenses    State    meeting 6  13  15 

312  G.   A.    Switzer Expenses    as    director 6  3394 

313  Geo.   F.   Tullock ..do 6  5305 

314  O.    L.    Wakefleld Expenses     State    meeting 6  4712 

315  Wm.  Webb  do 6  1850 


204 

AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Continued. 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                       To  whom.                                                        For  what.  No.  Amount. 

316  V.  J.  Shack.. Expenses     State     meeting 6  2870 

317  Mrs.   W.   C.   Rife do 6  3224 

318  Helen  Kaylor   do 6  2875 

319  Ruth   A.    Wardall do 6  21  16 

320  Mrs.  J.   E.   Kirkpatrick Expenses   district  conference 6  913 

321  C.    W.    Cooper do 6  256 

322  Elizabeth   Talbot   do 6  5  80 

323  Phil   Richards    do 6  545 

324  Earl   W.    Poland do 6  583 

325  J.    H.    Paxton do 6  635 

326  C.    L.    Hawkins do 6  631 

327  E.    R.    Kunkle do 6  330 

328  Mrs.   E>.   L.   Hall do 6  746 

329  Walter   A.   Moore do 6  751 

330  Harry  E.   Hall do 6  751 

331  Mrs.    M.    R.    Staggs do 6  208 

332  Mrs.    J.    E.    Mummert do 6  533 

333  W.    G.    Jones do 6  408 

334  J.  W.  Whisenand do 6  361 

335  Mrs.  W.  H.   Clarke .do 6  3  16 

336  Ralph  Wells   do 6  184 

337  Mrs.  Revy  Zimmerman do 6  470 

338  Mrs.  R.  C.  Doneghue do 6  4  18 

339  Ralph   D.    Kyle do 6  1  74 

340  Mrs.    Winifred    Wells do 6  184 

341  Mrs.    Timothy    Moore do 6  7  61 

342  P.    9.   Richey do 6  184 

343  Lyle    C.    Bridgford do 6  184 

344  F.  M.   Bane do 6  288 

345  Earl    Mount    do 6  790 

346  L.   W.   Hacker do 6  471 

347  C.A.Johnson do 6  471 

348  Ferris     Rowcliff do 6  3  16 

349  Mrs.    Chester   Peake do 6  -319 

350  Chris    Christenson    do 6  363 

351  Jones   Tontz    do 6  400 

352  R.    L.    Steiger    do 6  3  19 

353  Albert  R.  Sabin   do 6  3  19 

354  W.     W.     Wilson do 6  283 

355  Inez  M.  Rice  do 6  2  16 

356  G.  C.  Baker  ..do 6  489 

357  Mrs.  E.  Mount do 6  790 

358  Mrs.   H.   A.   McKeene do 6  2297 

359  H.    E.    Young Secretary's    expense    6  4090 

360  Wm.    Corris    Reporting     3  683  90 

361  April    Salaries    Office  help   1  69666 

362  American   Railway  Express  Co Express    2  225 

363  American   Multigraph   Co Multigraph  supplies    2  100  00 

364  Barker's   Art  Store Picture    framing    2  375 

365  Capital    Electric    Co Supplies    2  170 

366  Illinois  Bell  Telephone  Co Telephone   service    2  460 

367  Springfield    Clean   Towel   Service.... Towel  supply   2  120 

368  Striffler  Ice   &   Coal   Co Ice  supply    2  1  75 

369  Underwood   Typewriter  Co Typewriter   repairs    2  1  50 

370  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph  service  2  327 

371  Wm.   A.   Bone   Speakers   fee 5  1000 

372  Dr.    Delia    Caldwell    do 5  6000 

373  Sam  W.  Crabtree  do 5  40  00 

374  Mrs.    II.    G.    Easterly .do 5  30  00 

375  Ralph    French    do 5  5000 

376  Grace  Viall  Gray   do 5  1000 

377  H.   B.   Green do 5  3000 

378  J.    D.    Kruwel do 5  1000 

379  Lena    S.    Mann do 5  14000 

380  F.    I.    Mann do 5  17000 

381  H.    C.    McCarrel do 5  7000 

382  W.    E.    Riegel ..do 5  12000 

383  Dr.   Eva   M.    Wilson do 5  1000 

384  Harvey   W.    Byrnes Expenses   Brown   Co.    Inst 7  47  96 

384  J.    M.    Daniels Expenses  Bond  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

384  W.    C.    Pool Expenses  Ford   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

384  Wm.   Bossert   Expenses  Kankakee  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

384  J.   H.    Swanzey   Expenses   Stephenson   Co.    Inst 7  75  00 

385  Mrs.  J.  Collins  Goodrich Expense    district    conference 6  280 

386  B.    L.    Thomas do 6  520 

387  Harriet  J.  Francis do 6  376 

389  C.    J.    Luther do 6  498 

390  August    Maue    do 6  376 


205 

AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Continued. 

Voycher  Fund 

No.                      To  whom.                                                       For  what.  No.        Amount. 

391  Lewis    V.    Morgan Expense     district     conference 6  280 

392  A.    M.    Shelton do 6  306 

394  A.    M.    Fitchie do 6  374 

395  Webb    N.    Gould do 6  3  20 

396  E.    M.    Harris do 6  320 

397  Margaret  A.    Davis do 6  2  70 

398  G.    R.    White do 6  295 

399  D.    H.    Minto do 6  295 

400  Mrs.  Vida  T.  Henry do 6  2  35 

401  C.   J.   Leinbach do 6  7  14 

402.   Elizabeth  B.  Howey do 6  7  14 

403  Mrs.   Arthur  J.   VanEpps do 6  7  14 

404  Mrs.  R.  E.  Moss do 6  7  14 

405  James     Gough do 6  674 

406  Mrs.  David  F.  Hippie do 6  405 

407  J.    G.    Matlock do 6  495 

408  Carl  Vrooman   Expenses  State  meeting 6  1047 

409  N.   F.    Goodwin Expenses   as   director 6  1928 

410  Eli  I.   Crosier Expenses  district  conference 6  780 

411  W.R.Foster do 6  730 

412  Mrs.  Chas.  S.  Robinson do 6  816 

413  Ira   B.    Reed do 6  1  15 

414  Mrs.    F.    D.    Murphy do 6  448 

415  W.    G.    Curtiss do 6  498 

416  Arnold  F.  Karsk do 6  144 

417  J.    H.    Swanzey do 6  223 

418  Mrs.    Jesse    Colehour do 6  271 

419  C.    E.    Bickelhaupt do 6  271 

420  G.    R.    Bliss do 6  271 

421  Mrs.   J.   H.   Martin do 6  5  48 

422  H.    B.    Price do 6  523 

423  Edward  Devine    do 6  335 

424  Nellie   Cahil   do 6  4  69 

425  Mrs.  C.  C.  Ackert do 6  335 

426  Mrs.    Dexter   Stocking do 6  407 

427  G.    A.    Lazier do 6  407 

428  Mrs.    J.    A.    Ross do 6  407 

429  Dexter    Stocking    do 6  407 

430  E.    R.    Buck do 6  420 

431  O.    W.    Neher do 6  420 

432  Mrs.    Belle    Walsh do ! 6  486 

433  W.  Floyd  Keepers   do 6  516 

434  Clara    A.    Harford do 6  662 

435  Wm.    S.   Lutzow do 6  381 

436  R.     W.     Carper do 6  386 

137    Geo.    F.    Tullock do 6  368 

438  Charles    H.    Keltner ..do 6  686 

439  F.    L.    Steward do 6  711 

440  Clinton  T.  Glenny do 6  711 

441  Mrs.    Will    Geddis do 6  815 

442  A.    N.    Barren do 6  545 

443  George   Elliott do 6  495 

444  Mabel    R.    Matlock do 6  495 

445  Mrs.   W.   M.   Beattie do 6  652 

446  W.    M.    Beattie do 6  652 

447  Robert  H.   Clanahan do 6  1092 

448  Frank  S.   Haynes do 6  15  15 

449  C.W.Simpson do 6  631 

450  Elizabeth    Gumm    do .- 6  977 

451  Mrs.    Robert   H.    Clanahan do 6  1042 

452  Mrs.    W.    C.   Rife do 6  414 

453  M.    M.   Hartman do 6  4  15 

454  Lena  Phillips   do 6  430 

455  Mrs.   S.   W.   Jones do 6  430 

456  S.W.Jones do 6  430 

457  May    S.    Hawkins do 6  443 

458  Asa    D.    Twente do 6  512 

459  Roy    Edmiston    do 6  439 

460  Robert   B.    Templeton do 6  351 

461  Etta   Root   Edwards do 6  301 

462  G.   W.    Childers    do 6  225 

463  J.    H.    Krumrey do 6  225 

464  W.  K.  Galeener do 6  250 

465  O.    G.    Broleman do 6  305 

466  Mrs.   J.    A.    Worthington do 6  2  60 

467  Mrs.    R.   A.    Carlile do 6  2  60 

468  George   Barringer    do 6  300 

469  J.   J.   Doerschuk do 6  280 


206 


AUDITOR'S  REPORT—  Continued. 

Voucher 

Fund 

No.                       To  whom. 

For  what. 

No. 

Amount. 

470    L.  E.   Stoutenberg  

Expense    district    conference  

6 

9  44 

471    Harry    Luse    

do  

6 

8  60 

472    Carl  J.   Hacker  

do  

6 

11  86 

473    John    Morris    

do  

6 

4  75 

474    Mrs.    Hubert    Harrison  

do  

6 

9  31 

475    D.    M.    Marlin  

do  

6 

9  14 

476    Mrs.    Catharine    Middeke  

do  

6 

6  91 

477    M.  L.   Lansford  

do  

6 

4  94 

478    Mrs.   Charles  B.  Rohrbough  

do  

6 

3  72 

479    Joseph    Oldfleld  

do  

6 

2  95 

480    Edw.    Harpstrite  

do  

6 

3  15 

481    Mrs.  T.   M.   Smith  

do  

6 

3  72 

482    Mrs.   J.   M.    Carmean  

do  

6 

3  72 

483    J.    Lem   Balance  

do  

6 

3  72 

484    Clara   E.    Laird  

do  

6 

2  46 

485    Mrs.    W.    D.    Green  

do  

6 

1  28 

488    Leander  Wooden    

do  

6 

1  62 

487    T.    J.    Holstlare  

do  

6 

2  03 

488    Ida  M.  Kile  

do  

6 

2  95 

489    F.   O.   Grissom  

do  

8 

3  72 

490    F.   V.   Wilson  

do  

6 

5  89 

491    J.    W.    Davis  

do  

6 

5  34 

492    J.    E.    Whitchurch  

do  

6 

75 

493    Roy   R.    Naugle  

do  

6 

1  23 

494    J.    A.    Silliman  

do  

6 

3  46 

495    John    Marlman  

do  

6 

4  10 

496    Arvilla    Shain    Smith  

do  

6 

6  00 

497    G.    W.    Corbin  

do  

6 

2  38 

498    O.  W.  Hoit  

do  

6 

15  21 

499    Maud   C.   Hessler  

do  

6 

5  02 

500    Chas.   F.  Hottes  

do  

6 

13  98 

501    J.    R.   Fulkerson  

do  

6 

20  39 

502    J.    C.    Meis  , 

do  

8 

14  30 

503    F.    I.    Mann  

do  

6 

44  96 

504    Jno.    A.    Love  

do  

6 

2  58 

505    O.  M.  McGhee  , 

do  

6 

4  10 

506    Mrs.  Ora  I.  Miller  

do  

6 

7  23 

507    Marshall   0.    Smith  

do  

6 

723 

508    G.   G.  Hopping  

do  

6 

16  29 

509    Frances    A.    Jordan  

do  

6 

3  67 

510    Ed.    Creighton    

do  

6 

4  13 

511    A.  J.  Tison  

do  

6 

1  23 

512    John  Lamb,  Jr  

..do  

6 

2  38 

513    J.    H.    Lockhart  

.....do  

6 

6  20 

514    Mrs.   A.  J.  Leeper  

......do  

6 

1  84 

515    W.   C.    Pool  

do  

6 

4  83 

516    G.    C.    Williams  

do  

6 

4  19 

517    S.     L.     Grove  

do  

6 

1  40 

518    O.   R.  Turney  

do  

6 

1  40 

519    Chas.    H.    Watts  

do  

6 

3  79 

520    J.    E.    Johnson  

..do  

6 

3  79 

521    J.   W.   Watson  

do  

6 

2  36 

522    Mrs.    Karl   Hoover  

do  

6 

1  40 

523    Mrs.    Geo.    H.    Styan  

do  

8 

1  40 

524    Miss    Rose    Boyer  

do  , 

6 

1  40 

525    Frank   Hersman    

.....do  

6 

3  08 

526    Mrs.  F.  W.  Tieken  

......do  

6 

4  90 

527    Robert    Wortham    

do  

6 

4  00 

528    Orion   B.   Goble  ;  

do  

6 

4  74 

529    Homer   Freeland    

do  

8 

2  25 

530    Mrs.  A.  Linn  Baer  

do  

6 

50 

531     Wm.    Bossert    

do  

6 

9  73 

532    John   O.  Honnold  

..   ..do  

6 

7  58 

533    Ray    Pierce    

do  

6 

4  78 

534    H.  Zeis  Gumm  

do  

6 

8  46 

535    Mrs.   Lena  S.   Mann  

......do  

6 

20  86 

536    D.  A.   Staith  

do  •  

6 

3  80 

537    Mrs.    Geo.    Eastburn  

do  

6 

5  78 

538    Louis   K.   Voris  

do  

6 

7  43 

539    Adam    Imle  

do  

6 

9  80 

540    P.  L.  Kelley  

do  

6 

9  40 

541    Mrs.  John  A.  Rvan  

do  

8 

8  48 

542    L.    C.    Markwell  

do  

0 

7  68 

543    F.    R.    McCandlish  

......do  

8 

8  03 

544    John  T.  Green  

.....do  

8 

3  00 

545    H.  J.  Meis  

do  

8 

3  00 

546    Mrs.    J.    P.    Green  

do  

8 

3  00 

547    J.    Ira    Powell  

do  ,  

....       0 

280 

207 

AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Continued. 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                      To  whom.                                                       For  what.  No.        Amount. 

548  Wm.   O.   Crain Expense    district    conference 6  266 

549  Mrs.    Chas.    Colburn do 6  302 

550  Matt    Minder    do 6  280 

551  J.   H.   Checkley do 6  586 

552  Bernhard  Wright  do 6  548 

553  Susanna   Coombe    do 6  299 

554  Chas.    McDonald do 8  431 

555  Chas.  M.  Weller  do 8  431 

556  Mrs.  Letha  Killam do 6  700 

557  Helen   Moffett    do 8  4  66 

558  Guy   L.    Kellar do 6  2  26 

559  C.   H.  Orady do 6  1  84 

560  H.    B.   Austin do 8  2  83 

561  J.    F.    Sanmann do 8  664 

562  Geo.    H.    Vannier do 8  203 

563  Aubrey  E.   Davidson do '. 6  412 

564  C.    W.    Houghton do 8  268 

565  Mrs.   Cora  Banscoter  do 8  364 

566  Geo.   H.   Wiemer   , do 8  714 

567  C.    T.    Keeley do . 6  604 

568  V.    P.    Lame do 6  354 

569  C.A.Hughes do 8  278 

570  Mrs.   W.    M.   Roes ^ do 6  165 

571  Mrs.    W.   T.    Baker ' do 8  437 

572  H.    C.    McCarrel do 6  826 

573  Elmer    G.    Vortman do 6  203 

574  Mrs.    Henry   Knoeppel do 6  203 

575  C.  L.  Whitlock ..do 6  749 

576  B.    A.    Lewey do 6  584 

577  Frank    R.    Edwards do 6  141 

578  James   E     Caldwell do 6  155 

579  R.    R.    Hills ..do 6  420 

580  Mrs.  E.  L.  Yockey do 8  342 

581  Mrs.   A.  J.   Rucker do 6  342 

582  Mrs.  Grace  E.  Hay do 6  342 

583  Clotilde    Harrison    ..do 6  342 

584  R.    W.   Dickenson ..do 8  388 

585  Mrs.  Jno.   M.  Hampton ..do 6  12  14 

586  J.    P.    Mason do 6  3956 

587  Mrs.  Stella  S.  Baker ..do 6  283 

588  Mrs.    C.    A.   Dodds do 8  1  75 

589  J.    H.    Rainey ..do 6  872 

590  I.    D.    Snedeker ..do 6  622 

591  Florence  S.   Warren ..do 6  6  47 

592  R.   L.   Eyman do 6  6  22 

593  L.   E.    Groppel ..do 8  6  22 

594  Eva  M.  Wilson Expenses    H.    S.    Officer 6  4026 

595  S.    B.    Mason Expenses    as    director 6  63  28 

596  Mrs.   H.   A.  McKeene H.    S.    Secretary's   expense 8  11096 

597  H.  E.  Young Secretary's   expense    6  10414 

598  Kerns-Baker,  Inc Steel   Files    4  34838 

599  May    Salaries    Office  help   1  69668 

600  American   Multigraph   Co Multigraph   repairs    2  10000 

601  Wm.    H.    Conkling Postage    2  15000 

502  Illinois   Bell   Telephone  Co Telephone    service    2  3  40 

603  Fred  P.  Schlitt  Hardware    supplies    2  2  68 

604  Springfield,   Clean  Towel  Service.... Towel  supply   2  1  20 

605  Striffler  Ice   &  Coal   Co Ice  supply    2  1  40 

606  Western  Union  Telegraph   Co Telegraph   service    2  66 

607  W.  J.  Carmichael   Speakers  fee 5  2000 

608  Jos.    H.    Dodson do 5  1000 

609  A.    J.    Glover do 5  1000 

610  Theo.    Goodrich    .v. ..do 5  1000 

611  Prof.    L.    F.    Graber do 5  2000 

612  J.   R.  Holbert ..do 5  10  00 

613  C.   C.   Mills ..do 5  1000 

614  Theo.    Smith    do 5  2000 

615  Clayton  C.   Pickett Expenses   as   director 6  1696 

616  W.'C.   Cochel   Expenses    State   meeting 6  2521 

617  Chas.   Tarble    Expenses  district  conference 6  566 

618  Mrs.    A.    J.    Mollman do 6  1  55 

619  Mrs.    B.    G.    Baltz do 6  155 

620  Robert   Schleifer    do 6  4  14 

621  Henry  Hohlt   do 6  344 

622  L.   S.  Dorsey ..do 6  4  73 

623  W.   H.   Koonce do 6  566 

624  Jay    B.    Wait do 6  566 

625  John    Andres    do 6  321 

626  Frank  Troeckler .do 6  2  35 

627  Henry    Bardelmeier ..do 6  309 

628  L.   F.   Ochs   do 6  344 


208 

AUDITOR'S  REPORT— Concluded. 

Voucher  Fund 

No.                       To  whom.                                                        For  what.                                No.  Amount. 

629  Frank  J.    Schlemer Expense    district    conference 6  309 

630  Mrs.  James  M.  Vaughn do 6  6  76 

631  W.    C.    Heyl do 6  362 

632  Miss    Ethel    Sennott do 6  287 

633  Mrs.  Wm.  A.  Hills do 6  287 

634  Leo.   J.    Kipping do 6  3  01 

635  Mrs.  L.  F.  Ochs do 6  3  44 

836    Mrs.    Geo.    Eastburn do 6  1804 

637  C.     M.    Filson Expenses  State  meeting 6  2502 

638  Alfred  Tate  Expenses   district  conference 6  287 

639  Ethel   Hinds    Expenses    State    meeting 6  2591 

640  Mrs.   C.   M.  Filson do 6  2487 

641  John  E.    Barrett Expenses   as   director 6  8346 

642  H.    E.    Young Secretary's    expense    6  5006 

643  Lyle  C.  Bridgeford Expenses    Mercer    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

644  June  Salaries   Office    help    1  71666 

645  American   Multigraph   Co Multigraph    supplies    2  10000 

646  Wm.    H.    Conkling Postage    2  30000 

647  Geo.   W.   Hudson .Rubber   stamp   2.  25 

648  Illinois  Bell  Telephone  Co Telephone   service    2  190 

649  Springfield  Clean  Towel  Service Towel  supply   2  120 

650  Striffler  Ice  &  Coal  Co Ice  supply   2  1  40 

651  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co Telegraph    service    2  30 

652  F.J.Blackburn Speakers  fee 5  1000 

653  J.     G.     Imboden do 5  5000 

654  W.  L.   Burlison Expenses  State  meeting 6  2350 

655  Mrs.   D.   J.    Holterman Expenses  district  conference 6  575 

656  Mrs.    H.   A.    McKeene .H.   S.   Secretary's  expense 6  1218 

657  Mrs.  P.  J.  Moore Expenses    district    conference 6  5  63 

658  C.    C.    Pickett Expenses   as   director 6  1652 

659  I.   B.  Reed '. do 6  1779 

660  Geo.    A.    Switzer do 6  17  18 

661  Eva  M.  Wilson Expenses  as  H.   S.  Officer 6  4546 

662  H.  E.  Young Secretary's   expense 6  3261 

663  W.    G.    Curtiss Expenses    as     director 6  4546 

664  M.    E.    Hoit Expenses   Henry    Co.    Inst 7  7500 

664    J.    J.    Hornung Expenses  LaSalle  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

664    Marshal   Boyle   Expenses   Putnam  Co.  Inst 7  7500 

664    Frank    Brown Expenses   Will   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

664    B.   J.    Kaufman Expenses  Woodford   Co.   Inst 7  7500 

664    Chester    Smittkamp Expenses  Edgar  Co.   Inst 7  7500 

Your  auditor  would  further  report  that  he  has  checked  the  books  of 

the  secretary  with  the  auditor's  books  and  found  them  accurate  and  correct. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  all  the  financial  transactions  to  June  30, 
1922: 

Fund  1.    Salaries— Appropriation    available    July    1,    1921 $  8,720  00 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $8,59992 

Balance  June  30,   1922 120  08 

8,720  00 

Fund  2.    Office  Expenses — Appropriation  available  July  1,  1921 2, 125  00 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $2,07265 

Balance  June  30,    1922 52  35 

2,125  00 

Fund3.    Reporting — Appropriation  available  July  1,   1921 70000 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $      68390 

Balance  June  30,   1922 16  10 

700  00 

Fund  4.    Contingency — Equipment — Appropriations    available   July    1,    1921 85000 

Bills  paid  to  June  30,  1922 348  38 

Balance  June  30,   1922 501  62 

850  00 

FundS.    Speakers  and  Instructors— Appropriation  available  July  1,  1921 7,00000 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $6,69250 

Balance  June  30,   1922 307  50 

7,000  00 

Fund  8.    General   expense — Appropriation   available  July   1,    1921 6,00000 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $4,83359 

Balance  June  30,   1922 1,16641 

6,000  00 

Fund  7.    Co.   Inst. — Appropriation  available  July   1,   1921 7,65000 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $6,50518 

Balance  June  30,   1922 1,14482 

7,650  00 

Total  appropriation  available  July  1,   1921 33,04500 

Bills    paid    to    June    30,    1922 $29,736  12 

Balance  June  30,   1922 3,30888 

33,045  00 

CLAYTON  C.  PICKETT,  Auditor, 


BY-LAWS 


of  the 


ILLINOIS  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE 


Together  with  the  Rules  for  the 


Management  for  County  Farmers'  Institutes:  Act  Making  Appro- 
priation for  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  and  County  Farm- 
ers' Institutes  for  1921  and  1922;  Act  to  Enable  County 
Boards  of  Supervisors  and  County  Commissioners  to 
Appropriate     County     Funds     for     the     Use     of 
County    Farmers'    Institutes,    and    An    Act 
Creating  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute. 


211 


BY-LAWS  OF  ILLINOIS  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE. 


Whereas,  by  act  of  the  Thirty-ninth  General  Assembly,  approved  June 
24,  1895,  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  was  created,  empowering  its  Board 
of  Directors  to  adopt  by-laws  for  its  government  and  management  of  its 
business  in  connection  with  the  act  creating  it,  it  hereby  adopts  the  follow- 
ing by-laws  and  hereby  repeals  all  former  by-laws  heretofore  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Directors. 

ARTICLE   I — DIRECTORS. 

SECTION  1.  Eleven  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  constitute 
a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business,  except  as  may  be  otherwise  pro- 
vided by  these  by-laws. 

SEC.  2.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  hold  a  meeting  in  the  Institute 
rooms  of  the  State  House,  on  the  second  Tuesday  after  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute,  the  old  board  to  dispose  of  its  business, 
the  new  board  to  organize,  elect  officers  and  outline  its  policy  for  the  ensu- 
ing year,  and  to  transact  such  other  business  as  may  come  before  the  board. 

SEC.  3.  Each  director  shall  "be  the  confidential  advisor  of  the  board  and 
of  the  secretary  of  institute  concerning  institute  affairs  in  his  district;  he 
shall  report  to  the  secretary  at  the  close  of  the  institutes  in  his  district 
upon  all  matters  that  seem  significant  to  his  work,  in  order  that  the  secre- 
tary may  have  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  actual  conditions  in  all  parts 
of  the  State. 

ARTICLE  II — OFFICERS. 

SECTION  1.  The  officers  of  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  a 
president,  vice  president,  secretary,  treasurer  and  an  auditor,  to  be  elected 
by  ballot  by  the  Board  of  Directors,  for  the  term  of  one  year,  whose  term  of 
office  shall  begin  July  1  after  their  election. 

SEC.  2.  All  officers  of  the  Board  of  Directors  must  be  members  of  the 
board,  except  the  treasurer  and  the  secretary. 

SEC.  3.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power  at  any  time  to  fill 
vacancies  which  may  occur  in  its  membership. 

SEC.  4.  The  compensation  of  all  officers  and  employees  shall  be  fixed 
previous  to  their  election  or  employment. 

ARTICLE    III — PRESIDENT    AND    VICE-PRESIDENT. 

SECTION  1.  The  president  shall  be  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the 
Board  of  Directors;  shall  appoint  all  committees;  shall  be  ex  officio  member 
of  all  standing  committees;  he  shall  preside  over  the  meeting  of  the  Illinois 
Farmers'  Institute,  the  Board  of  Directors  and  the  Executive  Committee, 
and  perform  all  duties  incumbent  on  a  presiding  officer. 

SEC.  2.  In  case  of  the  absence  or  disability  of  the  president,  or  in  case 
of  vacancy  in  that  office,  the  vice-president  shall  fill  the  office. 

SEC.  3.  In  case  of  the  absence  or  disability  of  these  officers,  or  in  case 
both  offices  become  vacant,  any  director  or  member  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee who  is  called  to  the  chair  shall  act  as  president  for  the  time  being. 

ARTICLE   IV DUTIES    OF  THE    SECRETARY. 

SECTION  1.  The  secretary  shall  attend  all  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors and  standing  committees,  and  shall  keep  a  correct  record  of  the 


212 

same.  He  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  usually  devolve  upon  such 
officer.  He  shall  act  as  secretary  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  delegates 
and  keep  a  record  of  same.  He  shall  certify  all  bills  for  expenditures  duly 
approved  by  the  auditor,  Executive  Committee  or  Board  of  Directors,  but 
shall  not  certify  a  bill  on  a  fund  unless  there  is  sufficient  money  in  the 
fund  to  pay  such  warrant. 

SEC.  2.  He  shall  have  charge  of  all  publications  of  the  Institute  and 
shall  insert  therein  such  matter  as  will  advance  the  agricultural  interests, 
and  especially  the  work  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Executive  Committee.  He  shall  arrange  for  and  secure  reports 
of  State  and  other  important  institute  meetings,  making  them  a  matter  of 
record. 

SEC.  3.  The  secretary  shall  be  the  custodian  of  all  the  records  and 
papers  belonging  to,  and  all  property  owned  by  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Insti- 
tute, and  shall  report  an  inventory  of  all  property  of  the  Illinois  Farmers' 
Institute  to  the  Board  of  Directors  at  the  close  of  each  year;  he  shall  make 
a  detailed  annual  report  in  writing  to  the  Board  of  Directors  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  old  board;  he  shall  also  make  such  other  reports  during  the 
year  as  the  Board  of  Directors  or  the  Executive  Committee  may  require. 

SEC.  4.  He  shall  organize  a  bureau  of  speakers,  the  same  to  include 
farmers,  dairymen,  horticulturists,  livestock  breeders,  feeders  and  others 
who  have  adopted  scientific  and  practical  methods — secured  beneficial  re- 
sults, and  are  able  to  tell  about  them,  together  with  such  instructors  from 
the  College  of  Agriculture  and  Experiment  Station  as  may  be  assigned  to 
the  Institute  work,  and  whose  allotment  of  time  shall  be  under  his  direction. 
These  speakers  shall  be  assigned  work,  as  far  as  possible,  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  district  director,  officers  of  the  Department  of  Houe- 
hold  Science  (where  their  interests  may  appear)  and  the  county  institute 
officers. 

SEC.  5.  The  secretary  of  institutes  shall  attend  the  district  conferences 
and  aid  in  the  arrangement  of  such  circuits  of  institutes  as  will  prove  the 
most  convenient  for  the  attendance  of  speakers.  He  shall  make  a  detailed 
annual  report  in  writing  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  at  its  last  meeting,  of 
his  acts  and  doings  during  the  year,  together  with  a  general  summary  of 
the  Institute  work  of  the  State  for  the  year;  he  shall  also  make  such  other 
reports  during  the  year  as  the  Board  of  Directors  or  Executive  Committee 
may  require. 

ARTICLE  V — DUTIES  OP  TREASURER. 

SECTION  1.  The  treasurer  shall  have  charge  of  any  funds  received  by 
the  State  Institute,  keeping  an  accurate  account  of  same.  He  shall  pay  out 
the  same  on  warrants  signed  by  the  president  and  countersigned  by  the 
secretary,  issued  on  approved  bills.  He  shall  arrange  for  supplying  the 
funds  necessary  for  State  meeting  expenses  which  must  be  paid  pending  the 
settlement  of  same  through  the  State  Treasurer. 

ARTICLE   VI — AUDITOR. 

SECTION  1.  All  bills  for  expenditures  ordered  by  the  Board  of  Directors 
or  ithe  Executive  Committee  and  all  bills  contracted  in  pursuance  of  any 
appropriation  shall  be  referred  to  the  auditor. 

SEC.  2.  The  auditor  shall  carefully  examine  all  bills,  and,  when  ap- 
proved shall  return  them  to  the  secretary  with  recommendations  that  same 
shall  be  certified  for  payment.  In  case  a  bill  is  not  approved,  it  shall  be 
referred  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

SEC.  3.  The  auditor  shall  carefully  examine  all  reports  from  county 
farmers'  institutes  and  the  bills  for  expenses  of  the  same,  and  if  in  compli- 
ance with  the  law  providing  appropriations  for  county  farmers'  institutes 
and  the  rules  prescribed  by  the  Board  of  Directors  either  approve  the  same, 
or  if  not  approved,  refer  them  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

SEC.  4.  The  auditor  shall  examine  the  books  and  records  of  the  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  and  make  a  detailed  report  of  their  financial  transactions 


213 

up  to  July  1,  of  each  year,  to  the  Board  of  Directors  and  at  other  times 
when  directed  to  do  so  by  the  Board  of  Directors  or  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, and  shall  report  the  accounts  against  which  no  warrants  have  been 
drawn,  in  the  different  funds,  and  the  balances  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer 
to  the  credit  of  each  fund. 

AETICLE   VII — STANDING    COMMITTEES. 

SECTION  1.     There  shall  be  created  the  following  standing  committees, 
the  president  appointing  five  members  of  each  committee: 
Executive  Committee, 
Legislative  Committee, 
Household  Science  Committee, 
Committee  on  Agricultural  Books, 
Highway  Committee, 
Entomology  Committee, 
Committee  on  Soil  Investigation  and  Experiments. 

SEC.  2.  The  duties  of  standing  committee,  unless  otherwise  provided  by 
these  by-laws,  shall  be  legislative  in  character;  they  shall  meet  at  the  same 
time  and  place  that  the  Board  of  Directors'  meetings  are  called,  and  at  such 
other  times  as  may  be  necessary,  and  shall  make  a  written  report  to  the 
Board  of  Directors  at  their  annual  meeting  and  at  such  other  times  as  may 
be  called  for,  said  report  to  show  progress  made  and  future  needs  in  their 
respective  lines  of  work. 

ARTICLE   VIII — EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 

SECTION  1.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  conduct  the  affairs  of  the 
Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  in  the  interval  between  the  meetings  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  resolutions  adopted  by 
said  board. 

SEC.  2.  It  shall  make  all  arrangements  for  holding  the  State  Farmers' 
Institute  meeting,  assigning  the  time  and  place. 

SEC.  3V  It  shall  prepare  a  list  of  speakers  for  the  use  of  county  farmers' 
institutes. 

SEC.  4.  It  shall  pass  on  all  bills  referred  to  it  by  the  auditor  of  the 
board. 

SEC.  5.  It  shall  be  official  advisor  of  the  secretary  of  institutes  when 
the  Board  of  Directors  is  not  in  session. 

SEC.  6.  It  shall  meet  on  the  call  of  the  president  of  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

ARTICLE   IX — LEGISLATIVE   COMMITTEE. 

SECTION  1.  The  Legislative  Committee  shall  prepare  the  bill  or  bills  to 
be  presented  to  the  Legislature  for  enactment,  and  when  the  same  have  been 
approved  by  the  Board  of  Directors  or  Executive  Committee,  shall  take  all 
necessary  measures  to  have  the  same  enacted. 

ARTICLE  X — HOUSEHOLD    SCIENCE   COMMITTEE. 

SECTION  1.  The  Committee  on  Domestic  Science  shall  counsel  with  the 
secretary  of  the  Household  Science  Department  and  report  upon  measures 
for  the  advancement  of  the  work  of  this  department. 

ARTICLE   XI — AGRICULTURE   BOOK    COMMITTEE. 

SECTION  1.  The  Agriculture  Book  Committee  shall  examine,  and  recom- 
mend, from  time  to  time,  such  agricultural  books  as  it  may  find  to  be  true, 
scientific  and  applicable  to  Illinois  conditions,  and  to  recommend  books  for 
institute  office  library. 


214 


ARTICLE    XII — HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE. 


SECTION  1.  The  Highway  Committee  shall  co-operate  with  the  Division 
of  Highways,  State  Department  of  Public  Works  and  Buildings,  in  its  efforts 
to  secure  good  roads  and  shall  report  from  time  to  time  such  measures  as 
may  be  recommended  for  the  improvement  of  public  highways. 

ARTICLE    XIII — ENTOMOLOGY. 

SECTION  1.  The  Committee  on  Entomobogy  shall  be  advisory  to  the 
State  Entomologist  in  the  planning  experiments  for  the  prevention  of  dam- 
age to  crops  by  injurious  insects,  and  make  report  to  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  progress  of  the  work. 

ARTICLE  XIV COMMITTEE  ON   SOIL   INVESTIGATION   AND   EXPERIMENTS. 

SECTION  1.  The  Committee  on  Soil  Investigation  and  Experiments  shall 
advise  and  co-operate  with  the  director  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  in  making  chemical  and  physical  examination  of  the  various  soils 
of  the  State,  and  in  ascertaining  by  direct  experiment  in  laboratory  and 
field,  the  crops  and  treatment  best  suited  to  each;  it  shall  visit  the  soil  ex- 
periment fields  and  report  to  the  board  the  result  of  the  investigations  and 
experiments. 

ARTICLE    XV — AMENDMENTS. 

SECTION  1.  These  by-laws  may  be  amended  at  any  regular  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Directors  by  a  majority  of  those  present  voting  in  the  affirma- 
tive. 

ARTICLE    XVI — RULES. 

SECTION  1.  Robert's  Rules  of  Order  shall  govern  in  all  cases  not  other 
wise  provided  for. 

RULES  FOR  THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  COUNTY  FARMERS'  INSTITUTES. 

RULE  1.  The  director  of  each  district  consisting  of  more  than  one 
county  shall,  at  the  request  of  the  Executive  Committee,  or  the  secretary 
of  institutes,  call  a  conference  of  delegates  from  the  several  counties  of  his 
district,  at  some  convenient  point,  consisting  of  the  following: 

•  (a)     One   officer    (or   person   selected   by   the   officers)    of   each   county 
farmers'  institute. 

(b)  One  officer  (or  person  selected  by  the  officers)  of  the  department  of 
household  science  of  each  county  farmers'  institute.    (In  counties  in  which 
the  department  is  not  organized,  the  officers  of  the  county  farmers'  institute 
may  appoint  a  delegate  to  represent   the  women   of  the   county  with   the 
express  understanding  that  said  delegate  shall,  prior  to  the  time  for  holding 
the  county  farmers'  institute,  make  faithful  effort  to  organize  such  depart- 
ment.) 

(c)  The  county  superintendent  of  schools  for  each  county  in  the  dis- 
trict. 

The  purpose  of  these  conferences  is  to  arrange  the  times  and  places  for 
holding  the  next  county  institutes  and  to  cooperate  in  securing  speakers. 

All  necessary  expenses  of  the  three  said  delegates  in  attending  the  dis- 
trict conference  shall  be  paid  by  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  upon  itemized 
bills  approved  by  the  director  of  the  district. 

NOTE  1.  Rule  1  does  not  prohibit  the  attendance  at  the  conference  of 
more  than  three  delegates.  Indeed  the  number  who  may  attend  is  unlim- 
ited; but  the  expenses  of  three  only  can  be  allowed  from  the  State  Insti- 
tute funds. 

NOTE  2.  Delegates  from  independent  institutes  are  invited  to  come  to 
the  conference  at  their  own  expense.  Their  requests  for  speakers,  however, 
will  receive  the  same  attention  by  the  secretary  of  institutes  as  those  coming 
from  the  regular  county  organization.  The  purpose  of  the  conferences 


215 

Is  to  help  everybody  who  will  assist  in  the  dissemination  of  agricultural 
information. 

RULE  2.  The  director's  approval  shall  be  required  in  fixing  the  dates 
of  the  institutes  in  his  district. 

RULE  3.  The  secretary  of  each  county  institute  shall  submit  the  com- 
pleted institute  program  to  the  district  director  for  his  approval  before 
having  it  printed  and  distributed,  and  this  shall  be  done  at  least  twenty 
days  prior  to  the  time  for  holding  the  institute. 

RULE  4.  As  soon  as  practicable  after  printing  the  programs,  the  secre- 
tary of  each  institute  shall  send  two  or  more  copies  to  each  of  the  following: 

The  District  Director. 

Secretary,  H.  E.  Young,  Springfield,  Illinois. 

Each  of  the  speakers  whose  names  appear  upon  the  program. 

RULE  5.  The  date  or  place  for  holding  an  institute  shall  not  be  changed, 
from  that  determined  upon  at  the  district  conference  without  the  approval 
of  the  district  director  and  the  secretary  of  institutes. 

RULE  6.  No  part  of  the  State  fund  shall  be  expended  for  music,  recita- 
tion, amusements  of  any  kind,  or  for  premiums. 

RULE  7.  No  county  farmers'  institute  meeting  shall  be  held  in  con- 
nection with  a  street  or  county  fair,  a  political  meeting,  a  circus,  or  any 
similar  attraction. 

RULE  8.  The  publication  and  mailing  of  a  copy  of  these  rules  to  each 
county  institute  officer  shall  be  deemed  sufficient  notice  that  vouchers  for 
expenses  prohibited  herein  will  not  be  paid  by  the  State. 

RULE  9.  Nothing  in  these  rules  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prohibit  a 
county  farmers'  institute  from  expending  its  own  money  as  the  officers  may 
deem  proper.  The  State  fund  must  be  expended  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  here  given. 

RULE  10.  In  the  case  of  removal  from  the  county  or  refusal  to  act,  on 
the  part  of  any  county  institute  officer,  the  director  of  the  district  shall 
appoint  a  suitable  person  to  fill  the  vacancy,  and  this  appointee  shall  serve 
until  his  successor  shall  have  been  elected  at  the  next  regular  election. 

ACT  MAKING  AN  APPROPRIATION  FOR  THE  ILLINOIS  FARMERS' 
INSTITUTE  AND  COUNTY  FARMERS'  INSTITUTES  FOR  THE 
BIENNIUM  BEGINNING  JULY  1,  1921. 

(Approved  June  28,  1921,  in  force  July  1,  1921.) 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  repre- 
sented in  the  General  Assembly:  That  the  following  named  sums,  or  so 
much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  respectively,  for  the  purposes  hereinafter 
named  for  the  biennium  beginning  July  1,  1921,  and  until  the  expiration  of 
the  first  fiscal  quarter  after  the  adjournment  of  the  next  General  Assembly, 
be  and  are  hereby  appropriated  to  the  boards,  societies,  associations  and 
organizations  following,  to-wit: 

SEC.  7.     To  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute: 
For  salaries  and  wages: 

Secretary    $3,600  per  annum 

Stenographer    1,320  per  annum 

Clerk    1,800  per  annum 

Secretary,   Department   Household   Science 2,000  per  annum 

Reporting  proceedings    , 700  per  annum 


$18,840.00 

For  office  expenses   $  4,250.00 

For  equipment   750.00 

For  contingencies    200.00 

For  speakers  and  field  work 14,000.00 

For  county  institutes   15,300.00 

For  officers'  expenses  and  State  institutes 12,000.00 


Total $65,340.00 


216 

ACT  TO  ENABLE  COUNTY  BOARDS  OF  SUPERVISORS  IN  COUNTIES 
UNDER  TOWNSHIP  ORGANIZATION  AND  COUNTY  COMMISSION- 
ERS IN  COUNTIES  NOT  UNDER  TOWNSHIP  ORGANIZATION,  TO 
APPROPRIATE  COUNTY  FUNDS  FOR  USE  OF  COUNTY  FARMERS' 
INSTITUTES. 

(Approved  June  5,  1911.) 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  repre- 
sented in  the  General  Assembly:  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  county  boards 
of  supervisors  in  counties  under  township  organization,  and  for  county 
commissioners  in  counties  not  under  township  organization,  to  appropriate 
funds  from  the  county  treasury  for  use  of  county  farmers'  institutes  in  their 
efforts  to  promote  the  adoption  of  the  latest  approved  methods  of  crop 
production,  the  improvement  of  livestock,  the  conservation  of  soil  fertility, 
and  the  improvement  of  agricultural  conditions  generally:  Provided,  that 
in  no  case  shall  it  be  lawful  for  a  county  board  to  appropriate  more  than 
three  hundred  dollars  ($300)  in  any  one  year  for  the  above  purposes. 

AN  ACT  CREATING  THE  ILLINOIS  FARMERS  INSTITUTE. 

Approved  June  24, 1895.  Amended  and  approved  May  11, 1901.  Amended 
and  approved  May  15,  1903.  Amended  and  approved  June  10,  1909.  Amended 
and  approved  June  28,  1919. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  repre- 
sented in  the  General  Assembly:  That  to  assist  and  encourage  useful  edu- 
cation among  the  farmers,  and  for  developing  the  agricultural  resources  of 
the  State,  that  an  organization  under  the  name  and  style  of  "Illinois 
Farmers'  Institute"  is  hereby  created,  and  declared  a  public  corporation  of 
the  State. 

SEC.  2.  It  shall  consist  of  three  delegates  from  each  county  of  the  State, 
elected  annually  at  the  farmers'  institutes  for  said  county  by  the  members 
thereof. 

SEC.  3.  The  affairs  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  shall  be  managed 
by  a  Board  of  Directors,  consisting  of: 

1.  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

2.  Dean  of  Agriculture,  University  of  Illinois. 

3.  Director  of  State  Department  of  Agriculture. 

4.  President  of  the  State  Horticultural  Society. 

5.  President   of   the    State    Dairymen's   Association,    and    one   member 
from  each  congressional  district  of  the  State,  to  be  selected  by  the  delegates 
from  the  district  present  at  the  annual  meeting  of  this  organization:    Pro- 
vided, that  the  members  first  selected   from  the  congressional   districts  of 
even  numbers  shall  serve  for  one  year,  and  the  members  first  selected  from 
the  congressional  districts  of  odd  numbers  shall  serve  for  two  years,  and 
that  the  members  selected  thereafter  to  fill  the  expired  term  of  office  shall 
serve  for  the  period  of  two  years. 

SEC.  4.  The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  shall 
have  sole  care  and  disposal  of  all  sums  that  may  be  appropriated  by  the 
State  to  sustain  the  organization,  and  shall  expend  the  same  in  such  manner 
as  in  their  judgment  will  best  promote  the  interests  in  useful  education 
among  the  farmers  and  develop  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  State.  The 
Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  shall  make  annual  report  to  the  Governor  of  its 
transactions,  which  rep'ort  shall  include  papers  pertaining  to  its  work  and 
addresses  made  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  organization,  and  a  classified 
statement  of  all  money  received  and  of  all  expenditures  made,  and  fifty 
thousand  (50,000)  copies  of  such  report  shall  be  printed  and  bound  in  cloth 
on  or  before  September  1,  of  each  fiscal  year,  three-fourths  for  the  use  of  the 
Illinois  Farmers'  Institute,  and  the  remainder  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
distribution.  It  shall  make  no  appropriation  without  funds  in  hand  to 
meet  the  same,  and  the  State  of  Illinois  shall  in  no  event  be  held  liable  or 
responsible  for  debt,  obligation  or  contract  made  by  the  Illinois  Farmers' 
Institute  or  its  Board  of  Directors. 


217 

SEC.  5.  There  shall  be  held  annually,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board 
of  Directors,  between  October  1  and  March  1,  following  of  each  year,  a 
public  meeting  of  the  delegates  from  county  farmers'  institutes  and  of 
farmers  of  this  State  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  determined  by  the 
Board  of  Directors,  of  not  less  than  three  (3)  days'  duration,  which  meeting 
shall  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  developing  the  greater  interest  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  crops,  in  the  care  and  breeding  of  domestic  animals,  in  dairy 
husbandry,  in  horticulture,  in  farm  drainage,  in  improved  highways  and 
general  farm  management  through  and  by  means  of  liberal  discussions  of 
these  and  kindred  subjects  and  any  citizen  may  take  part  in  these  meetings, 
but  only  duly  elected  and  accredited  delegates  from  county  farmers'  institutes 
shall  be  permitted  to  vote  in  the  election  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

SEC.  6.  The  members  of  each  new  Board  of  Directors  shall  enter  upon 
their  duties  the  second  Tuesday  after  their  election,  and  hold  their  offices 
for  one  or  two  years,  as  provided  in  section  3,  or  until  their  successors  are 
elected  and  enter  upon  their  duties.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have 
power  to  fill  vacancies  in  the  board.  It  shall  organize  by  the  election  of  a 
president,  vice-president,  treasurer  and  secretary,  who  shall  hold  their  offices 
for  one  year,  from  the  date  of  their  election,  or  until  their  successors  are 
elected  and  qualified.  It  shall  employ  such  superintendents,  speakers  and 
clerks  as  may  be  deemed  proper  for  organizing  and  conducting  the  work  of 
the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute,  and  provide  for  their  compensation  by  the 
rules  of  the  Board  of  Directors.  The  secretary  and  treasurer  may  be  other 
than  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

SEC.  7.  Rooms  in  the  Capitol  building,  shall  be  assigned  to  the  officers 
of  this  organization  by  the  proper  authority,  which  shall  then  be  under  the 
control  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

SEC.  8.  The  Board  of  Directors  may  make  and  enforce  such  rules  and 
by-laws,  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of  this  State,  as  will  render  its  work 
most  useful  and  efficient. 

SEC.  9.  For  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  preceding  sections,  said 
Board  of  Directors  may  use  such  sums  as  it  may  deem  proper  and  necessary, 
not  exceeding  the  amount  appropriated  therefor  by  the  General  Assembly 
from  the  general  fund,  for  that  purpose:  Provided,  further,  that  the 

1.  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 

2.  Dean  of  Agriculture,  University  of  Illinois, 

3.  Director  of  State  Department  of  Agriculture, 

4.  President  of  the  State  Horticultural  Society, 

5.  President  of  the  State  Dairymen's  Association, 

And  the  present  congressional  representatives  of  the  Illinois  Farmers' 
Institute  Association  shall  constitute  the  first  Board  of  Directors  of  this 
organization,  who  shall  have  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  same  until  their 
successors  have  been  duly  elected,  and  enter  upon  their  duties  as  provided 
in  this  act. 


218 


INDEX. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH   ANNUAL    REPORT    ILLINOIS    FARMERS'    INSTITUTE. 

PAGE 

Annual  Meeting,  Proceedings  of  the  Twenty-Seventh 11 

Addresses: 

Address  of  Welcome,  Chester  Smith 11 

Co-Operative  Live  Stock  Marketing,  Joe  Fulkerson 98 

Plan    of    Organization    99 

Opposition  From  the  Exchanges    ;  100 

What  the  Records  Show   100 

Advantages    of    Co-Operation     102 

An  Example  of  Propaganda   103 

Division  of  Profits    104 

Corn  Diseases  and  Corn  Breeding,  James  R.  Holbert 48 

Economies  in  Cattel  Feeding,  Jrof.  W.  A.  Cochel 158 

Better  Crops  and  Better   Markets    159 

Safe    and    Profitable    Investment 160 

Hogs   are   Necessary   Adjunct 161 

Proper  Feeding  Essential    161 

Permanency    Wins    162 

Livestock   Communities    Richest 163 

What  the  Market  Demands   164 

Factors  Which   Spell  Success    164 

Farmers  in  the  Commission  Business,  J.   S.  Montgomery 105 

Co-Operative  Shipping  Associations 106 

The  Terminal  Market  Situation   106 

Organization    and    Results    107 

The  Financial  Side 109 

Stockers    and    Feeders    110 

The   Hog   Market    110 

The  Principle  is  Right Ill 

Feeding   the   World,   Hon.   Carl   Vrooman 130 

Selfish  Policy  Closed  Markets 131 

Problem  of  Surplus  Crops   132 

What  Our  Gift  to  Russia  Did 132 

Markets,  Not  Credit  Alone  Needed   133 

A   Good   Business   Proposition    134 

The  Real  Cause — International  Bankers    134 

Sell   Surplus  on  Credit,   If  Necessary 135 

Foreign  Markets  Mean  Prosperity   136 

Greetings  From  the  Grange,  W.  F.  Miller 126 

I  Love  Thee  Illinois,   S.  B.  Mason    180 

"Illinois",    Doris   and    Dorothy    Sites    70 

Illinois  Seed  Law,  Albert  C.   Wilson    128 

Interdependence  of  Town  and  Country,   Carl  J.  Baer 78 

A   Big   Business,   but   Not   Profitable 79 

Examples   of   Profitable   Co-Operation    80 

Who    Owns    the    Land?    83 

Balance    Wheel    of    Progress    83 

Civics    the   First    Spoke    85 

Production    and    Distribution    86 

Transporatipn — River,    Rail   and   Truck    86 

Manufacturing    86 

Commerce    86 

"How  Much  Can  I  Put  Into  It?"    87 

Kankakee  County  Farmers'  Market,  John  S.  Collier 123 

Farmers'    Market    Permit    125 

Leisure — A  Liability  or  An  Asset,  Mrs.  Clara  Ingram  Judson 72 

Twenty-Four  Hours  a  Day  For  Everybody 73 

Leisure    at    Meal    Time    74 

Improve    Our    Leisure    Evenings    75 

Books   for   Leisure   Hours    76 

Make   Good  Use  of  Each   Golden  Moment    78 

Limestone   Supplies  for  Illinois,  J.  R.  Bent    31 

Limestone  Needs  in  Illinois    

Portable    Crushing    Plants    

Forms  of  Limestone    • 33 


219 

Index — Continued. 

Addresses — Continued.  PAOE 

Governing  Factors   in   Limestone   Supply    35 

Problem    of    Distribution     36 

Local  Storage  Needs    36 

Limestone   Freight   Rates    _ 37 

Faulty   Distribution,   Not   Over-Production    38 

More  Dollars  Per  Acre,  Ray  Gardner 13 

Organized  Agriculture  and  Its  Problems,  Clifford  Thome 112 

A   Problem   of   Production 112 

Transportation    Problems    113 

The   Record   of   Regulation    114 

What   Happened   During   the   War    114 

Efforts  to  Correct  Blunder  of  1920 115 

The   Present   Situation    116 

A  Question  of  Fundamentals    116 

Co-Operative  Marketing  Plans   117 

Better  Credit  Facilities  Needed    118 

Production  Cost  Important    119 

What   Organization   Has   Accomplished    119 

Farmers  Right  to  Organize   120 

Facts  Regarding  Prices    121 

An   Alarming  Condition 122 

Our  Rural  Schools,  Mrs.  H.  M.  Dunlap 141 

Where   Illinois   Stands    142 

Education  or  Foolish  Luxuries?    143 

Some  Consolidated  Schools    144 

What  We  Should  Work  For  In  Illinois 145 

Permanent  Agriculture,  J.  C.  Meis 18 

Getting  Started  With  Phosphate   18 

Comparison    of    Results    on    Farm 19 

Yield  Without  Rock  Phosphate  for  Six  Years 20 

Yield  With  Rock  Phosphate  for  Seven  Years 21 

Actual  Cash  Value  Record 21 

Satisfaction  as  Well  as  Profit    23 

Physiology  of  Germination,  Dr.  Chas.  F.  Hottes 57 

Germination  Test  Not  Sufficient   57 

Soil    and    Climate    Influence    59 

Need   and   Function   of  Water    62 

High   Temperatures   Kill   Disease 64 

President's  Address,  Frank  I.  Mann 87 

A  Leader  in  Organization    87 

Open   Membership — Service    to   All    88 

What   of   the   Future?    89 

Profitable   Soil   Treatment,   F.  A.   Gougler 24 

Simple    Chemical    Reaction 

Land  Terracing  Saves  Washing   27 

Profitable   Soil  Treatment,   Wm.  Webb    15 

Crop    System    and    Results    15 

What   This    Means   on    160   Acres 16 

Results  on  Home  Farm    16 

Reducing  Dairy  Farm  Costs,  Prof.  H.  H.  Kildee 147 

Some   Recognized  Facts    148 

Factors   in   Profitable   Operation    150 

Weeding  and  Breeding    151 

Pure   Bred    Sires   Pay    151 

How  Feeding  Increases  Profit   154 

The   Question   of   Health    155 

Swine  Disease  Control,  Dr.  Jas.  McDonald   90 

Infectious   Bronchitis — "Flu"    90 

Necrotic    Enteritis    

Hog   Cholera — Symptoms   and   Treatment    91 

How  The  Disease  is  Spread   

When    Cholera   Appears    94 

The   Inoculation    Treatment    

Serum    or   Virus 

Essentials   in   Disease   Control    '. 95 

The  Home-Maker's  Ten  Commandments,  Mrs.  Grace  Viall  Gray 137 

"Thou  Shalt  Keep  Thy  Health'"    137 

"Thou    Shalt    Not    Nag"     138 

"Thou    Shalt    Not    Worry"    138 

"Thou   Shalt   Know   Food  Values"    138 

"Thou  Shalt  Have  Labor-Saving  Devices"   139 

"Thou  Shalt  Not  Clean  and  Dust  All  the  Time"   140 

"Thou  Shalt  Love  Thy  Husband  and  Children  More  Than  Thy  House- 
hold  Furnishings"    140 

"Thou  Shalt  Have  Thy  Own  Check  Book" 140 

"Thou   Shalt  Have  a  Hobby"    140 

"Thou  Shalt  Not  Drive  the  Auto  From  the  Back  Seat" 

The  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute  and  Its  Job,   E.   Davenport 176 

Unselfish   Public  Service    177 


220 

Index — Continued. 

Addresses — Concluded.  PAGE 

No  Foolish  Propaganda ....'. 177 

Big  Jobs  Well  Done    177 

Independent    Self   Management    Essential    178 

Important    Work    Ahead    179 

The   Near   Eastern    Relief,    President   Mann    165 

The  Use  of  the  Income,  Miss  Ruth  A.   Wardall 169 

What    Shall    We    Do   With    Money?    170 

Our  Attitude   Toward   Income    171 

Accounts   are   Necessary    172 

Making  The   Budget    173 

Utility  Corn  Tests,   M.   L.   Mosher    39 

P'actors   in    Seed   Corn    Selection    42 

How  the  Field  Test  was  Conducted   43 

Harvesting    the    Corn    44 

Continuing  the  Test   in   1920  and   1921 44 

Information    Secured    Regarding   Each    Sample 44 

Interesting    Summaries     45 

Selecting  Samples  for  Seed  Plot  or  for  Exhibit 45 

Heavy,     Solid     Ears     45 

Bright,    Well-Developed    Kernels    45 

Uniformity  of  Ears  and   Kernels 46 

Minor    Characteristics    46 

Miscellaneous: 

Act  Creating  the  Illinois  Farmers'  Institute 216 

Act    Making    Appropriations     215 

Act  to  Enable   Supervisors   to  Appropriate  Funds    216 

Auditor's    Report    199 

Board  of  Directors 6 

By-Laws    Illinois   Farmers'    Institute    209 

Facts  Concerning  Monmouth    9 

Local   Institute    Committees 9 

Executive     9 

Entertainment     10 

Reception     10 

Publicity     10 

Information    » 10 

Music     10 

Local    Household    Science    Committees 10 

Executive     10 

Entertainment     .' 10 

Publicity     10 

Information 10 

Reception     10 

Letter    of    Transmitted 3 

Minutes  of   the   Meetings   of   the   Board   of  Directors 181 

Report    of    Committee    on    Credentials 194 

Report    of    Committee    on    Resolutions 165 

Taxation     166 

Government    Economy    166 

Freight   Rates    167 

Livestock     Marketing 167 

Community   High    Schools 167 

Community   Park    Laws 168 

Foreign    Credits    169 

Report   of   Delegates 195 

Report   of    Secretary 186 

The    State   Meeting 187 

Publications     187 

University    Scholarships     188 

Financial    Statement    188 

Recommendations     189 

Report  of  Secretary  of  Household  Science , 190 

The   Object 190 

Development     ' 191 

Number    of    Clubs 191 

Membership     191 

Conferences  and  Institute  Work 192 

The   State  Fair  School 192 

University  of  Illinois   Scholarships 192 

Reference    Library   Books 192 

The    Questionnaire     193 

Publications     193 

Correspondence     193 

The    State    Meeting 193 

Rules  for  the  Management  of  County  Farmers'  Institute 214 

Transactions  of  the  Convention  of  Delegates,  Monmouth 194 


221 

Index — Concluded. 

Illustrations: 

Portraits:  PAGE 

Baer,  Carl  J 78 

Bent,    J.    R 

Davenport,    Dean    176 

Dunlap,   Mrs.   H.   M 142 

Fulkerson,    Joe    98 

Gray,   Mrs.    Grace   Viall 137 

Holbert,   James   R 50 

Hottes,  Dr.   Chas.   F 57 

Judson,    Mrs.    Clara   Ingram 72 

Kankakee  County  Farmers'  Market 124 

Kildee,   Prof.   H.   H 147 

Mann,    Frank    1 87 

Mason,    S.    B 180 

McDonald,   Dr.   Jas.   A 91 

Meis,    J.    C 18 

Small,    Governon    Len 

Sites,  Dorothy  and  Doris,  "Egyptian  Song  Birds" 70 

Thorne,    Clifford    112 

Vrooman,    Hon.    Carl 130 

Wilson,  Dr.  Eva  M 71 

Miscellaneous: 

Armory     8 

A  Very  Promising  Homozygous  Strain  of  Corn 51 

Best  Types  of  Corn  for  Seed 49 

Chart: 

The  Nations  Balance  Wheel  of  Progress 84 

Court    House    8 

Delegation  of  Farmers  Visiting  the  Farm  of  Mr.  E.  D.  Funk 56 

Disease — Free    Corn     53 

Germination  of  Corn  Harvested  in   the  Dent  Stage 63 

Germination  of  Corn  Harvested  in  the  Mature  Stage 65 

Germination    of   Corn    Harvested    in    the    Milk    Stage 61 

Half-Blood  Guernsey  Cow,  No.   87 153 

Half-Blood  Holstein  Cow,  No.   69 149 

Half-Blood  Jersey  Cow,  No.  213 156 

Kernels  of  Smooth,  Medium  Rough,  and  Rough,   Sprayed  with  Penicil- 

lium    Spores     60 

Mr.   Gardners   Sweet   Clover 13 

Representative  Ears  from  the  Twelve  Highest  Yielding  Lots  of  Seed..  40 

Scrub  Cow,  No.  33 153 

Scrub    Cow.    No.     52 149 

Scrub  Cow,  No.   53 156 

Susceptible  and  Resistant  Strains  of  Corn 54 

Terraces     after     a     Rain 27 

Terracing  Started  by  Back-Furrowing 26 

Terracing  with   a   V-Shaped   Dray 29 

Terracing    with    Road    Grader 28 

The  Two  High  Yielding  Samples 43 

Three-Quarters  Blood   Guernsey   Cow,   No.    296 153 

Three-Quarters  Blood  Holstein   Cow,   No.    281 149 

Three-Quarters   Blood    Jersey    Cow,    No.    398 156 

Two  of  the  Low  Yielding  Samples 41 

Types  of  Smooth,   Medium   Rough,   and   Rough   Corn 58 

Y.    M.    C.    A.    Building 8 


SOUTHERN  BRANCH, 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CAL!F*f?f 

LIBRARY, 

.,  CALIF. 


